Konoha High School
by l'author
Summary: Naruto wants nothing more than to play rock and roll with his band. But, when his math grade drops to failing, he is assigned to be tutored by none other than Sasuke Uchiha. As the two are forced to spend more time together, Naruto discovers that wealth doesn't equate to happiness, people aren't always as they seem, and how peculiar his clumsy little heart can be. NaruSasu
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Just a warning: This will definitely contain mature themes and suggestions (and not the happy ones). (No, not lemons). Read at your own discretion, and thanks for the support. :D

 **Konoha High School**

 _Chapter One: Prologue_

As far as Naruto was concerned, it was just another typical day at Konoha High. Another day of hoodies, munching on stale pizza, scrambling together last minute papers, and attempting to text his buddies in class.

 _Bro, make sure we meet 2 tune up before school's over._

 _K._

That is, of course, until his Algebra 2 teacher decided to publicize his habits in front of the whole class.

"Naruto!" Iruka cried out, practically shocking Naruto out of his skin, "I've had far enough of your texting in class!"

"Sorry, Iruka-sensei..." Naruto replied, actually feeling guilty for his actions.

"Look, Naruto, I can't keep calling you out in class, so just... see me after its over, okay?"

Iruka sounded exhasperated, and Naruto knew he was being a jerk. As much as Naruto hated math, he was well aware that Iruka truly tried to help him in every way possible. Back in September, Naruto had tried his best to understand what the hell Iruka was babbling about in the front- something about exponents?- but, after the first three exams had passed, it became apparent to both of them that math wasn't exactly Naruto's forte. And Naruto had had enough of exhausting himself during the day just to end up getting a failing grade. Iruka, on the other hand, offered him extra help practically every Wednesday.

That didn't work out either. Naruto, while obviously not a scholar in any way, was not a delinquent, and as such, his Wednesday happened to occupied by something more important than _math._

Which was the reason that he was constantly texting Kiba in class. The two boys were the leading coordinators of their band. On Wednesdays, the group typically had a gig at one of the nearby clubs. Yeah, technically high schoolers shouldn't be allowed to play in any vicinity of alcoholic beverages, but they were cool. They were good and Naruto knew it.

Because of this, Naruto was reluctant to stay after school to sort out whatever issues Iruka was having with him. He had to meet with the gang before they left for the concert, so he really didn't have the time to spare most days. Naruto nodded anyway, and tried to place his attention on the streaks of chalk marring the board in front of him.

...For about five seconds, before he started to zone out again.

 _Dammit..._

"We'll be having a brief quiz on this tomorrow, so I'd suggest doing this sheet. I'll post the answer key online tonight, so study hard!" Iruka encouraged.

Naruto grabbed the sheet passed to him and shoved it into his bag, hurredly swinging it over his shoulder in an attempt to exit the classroom ASAP. He bent over and picked up the long black case holding his precious guitar, practically stabbing the girl next to him with it and muttering a quick ' _sorry!'_ before rushing off.

Iruka was quicker.

"No, Naruto," Iruka cut Naruto's plan off, spinning him around by his shoulder. "You can't keep running away from this problem you're having."

Naruto's eyes grazed his sneakers, until meeting with Iruka's brown ones.

"I know, it's just...!" Naruto said, frustrated.

"Look," Iruka cut in again, agitatedly running his hand through his hair, "I understand that math isn't really your 'thing', and I get that you're busy on Wednesdays. But to me, it almost seems like you're not trying at all. Don't you care about your future?"

He could've rolled his eyes. It seemed to him like teachers and parents always pulled the 'future' card as a way to get their kids to do whatever they wanted. Yeah, Naruto realized that one day he'd need to make his own cash, but he also realized that he thought it was more important to live and be a person than to sit around doing what everyone else wants from you. So that's how he decided to live.

But, alas, Iruka wasn't wrong. The future was important enough that his connections at the club weren't enough for him to get by on. He was going to need to raise his grade so he could at least pass high school.

"I know," Naruto said hesitantly, "that you're trying your best, sensei. I'm really sorry but math just doesn't come easily to me..."

Iruka smiled at that.

"I can work with a student who has trouble learning, Naruto. I just can't work with a student who isn't interested at all."

Naruto nodded, suddenly feeling the weight of his bag. Where was Iruka going with this?

"Since our schedules don't line up, Naruto, I was hoping you'd be willing to try getting some extra help from someone who is willing to change his schedule around to compensate for you."

 _Well..._

That sounded almost too perfect.

"Oh, uh, yeah I guess I could do that..." Naruto replied, leaning his guitar against the desk beside him.

... _Too good to be true?_

Iruka nodded, seeming almost excited.

"Well, if you are willing to try, so is he. I have a student coming over here shortly, if you can spare a bit of time, who's willing to tutor you-"

"Oh, I don't have the money-"

"-for free." Iruka finished.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow, realizing Iruka was a step ahead of him. _No excuses now!_

"Well, uh, yeah I can wait." He said gratefully.

On one hand, he'd rather lick a tire than have to spend extra time learning math. But, on the other, he was getting tired of being confused all the time in class and knowing every test he received he'd fail. It was giving him a touch of anxiety, if Naruto was completely honest, and if this person was willing to help him out for free, then _what was there to lose?_

In walked a boy sporting loafers, a cardigan, and tousled jet-black hair.

 _Everything, apparently..._

"Good afternoon, Sasuke." Iruka stood up to greet him, whereas the boy -Sasuke- barely moved an inch from the doorway.

"Iruka-sensei," was all he said, eyeing Naruto in a way that made him want to squirm.

This couldn't be happening.

It just couldn't.

"Uh, Iruka-sensei, I don't think-"

"Sasuke," Iruka interrupted, "this is Naruto. He's in Algebra 2, and is currently having trouble with exponent rules and differential equations we've been working out in class."

Sasuke scrutinized Naruto from where he stood. Naruto glared back.

"Uh..." Naruto spoke up again, "Iruka-sensei, I'm gonna have to back out of this one."

Iruka turned to him, his smile completely vanishing.

"Naruto, you can't keep backing out of these things and- Sasuke! Where are you going?"

"He's right", the boy from the doorway said monotonously, much to Naruto's surprise. "This isn't going to work."

Naruto was glad, at the very least, that they were on the same page. He knew that black-haired, bad-attitude guy wouldn't agree to helping anyone out. No way.

Sasuke, as far as Naruto knew, was the most conceited, condescending little prick ever borne into the world. He was widely sought after by the prettiest girls in school, namely, Naruto's all-time crush Sakura. Not only did every girl wanna bang him, but his parents were rich, and before he _quit_ , he was the star of the varsity soccer team.

Of course, none of Naruto's friends liked him. The world was handed to the guy on a silver platter, he had no troubles, and yet he walked around like a gloomy cloud was permanently following him. Naruto had his fair share of issues, especially with money, and yet in comparison to Sasuke, he was a sunshine on a rainy day and as giving as Santa on Christmas eve.

Though, Naruto wondered what the guy had against him. Maybe it was just because he wasn't rich? Or the way he dressed? It wouldn't surprise him if the guy stereotyped him because of appearances and because he played rock and roll.

Naruto reached down for his guitar, but Iruka's hand stopped him.

"Just give it a chance, please?" He pleaded, and in that moment, Naruto realized just how much the man was trying to help him. How could he deny him after all this effort?

He took a seat.

"Sasuke," Iruka sighed, effectively stopping the boy in his prissy-little tracks, "in two years, you'll be going to college. I'm assuming you have a dream university, right?"

Sasuke turned to him, interest peeked.

"What if I told you I might have a connection to your dream school?" Iruka lamented, knowing he had Sasuke wrapped around his finger.

Sasuke scoffed, doubtful.

"We can discuss this on our own time, but I'm letting you know that I'd be willing to write a recommendation letter to Master Sarutobi if you did me this favor" Iruka said, knowing he had him in the bag now.

Sasuke seemed... well, completely stoic to Naruto. But, he was slightly shocked that Iruka knew of the Oxford dean. He knew he couldn't pass up the opportunity, so grudgingly he nodded, turning his attention to Naruto.

"So, moron. I hear you have a quiz tomorrow?"


	2. Chapter 2

He couldn't believe it.

Couldn't. Fucking. Believe it.

Naruto's angry footsteps ricocheted throughout the locker-clad hallways of Konoha High. Not only were his footfalls aggressive, but his facial expression was one of Lucifer himself.

That asshole had called him a moron! What did he know, going around saying things like that? Naruto had been too shocked to come up with a valid insult, and with Iruka standing right there (not defending him- the traitor!), it's not like he could've up and slugged him in his pretty-little-face.

So he wasn't good at math! How did that make him a _moron?_ Yeah, he knew most of his classes he passed with a C-, but sometimes he received decent grades, not that it mattered! Naruto didn't believe that grades were a measure of intellect at all!

And now, because Iruka had done him a favor, he was going to miss his big gig. The guys were all depending on him - he had a wicked solo in this one- and he'd fought long and hard with the manager of _Joseph's Studio_ to get the band in. It was a studio mostly for college students, or young people just looking for some fun. But, since it was 21 and older (there was alcohol readily available- as a matter of fact, it was well known that frat boys liked to go there to 'lose it'), Naruto and Kiba had to argue pretty persuasively to get in. It was almost a year before, and the manager had been so frustrated he'd lied to them and said they were full until the next year. The stubborn boys agreed to come back in a year's time, and the manager made the mistake of believing they'd forget about it. So a few weeks ago, Kiba rang the place and reminded him, and in they were!

But not anymore, Naruto thought frustratedly. He bit his lip bitterly, and rushed over to the room the guys typically were at. They'd found the location in the middle of their freshman year, when they were horsing around and Gaara got a bit aggressive with Naruto. They had trouble getting along back then, but now Naruto liked to think of him as one of his closest friends. He'd shoved Gaara so hard he smacked into a door with enough force to break the latch securing it off and throw his body tumbling onto the dusty tiles of a closed-up custodian's office. Sitting up and rubbing the ache in his shoulder blade, Gaara glanced around until making eye contact with Kiba and Naruto. Naruto grinned and declared the space their own.

Since then, the band had expanded quite a bit. Kiba stopped being a bigot and started to notice talent in people they typically didn't hang around with- namely, the opposite sex. That's when they found a girl with a wicked voice, named Sakura. Initially, Naruto had been adamant about inviting her into the group, since he'd had (and still had) a raging crush on her since pre-K. Practically everyone knew it. Still, with a massive pep-talk from Kiba, he mustered up enough confidence to persuade her into rehearsing with them at least once. Okay, he might've begged. But when her assumptions that they were nothing but loud, 3-chord-playing idiots was disproven, she was impressed enough to join and even asked if her good friend Hinata could as well. Naruto was open enough about the idea, but inside, he wondered if it was a good idea, given the only time Hinata had ever spoken to him had been a simple hello, followed by her fainting. But, as it turned out, her timidness didn't translate in her piano playing, and she was _boss_ on both piano and synthesizer.

Since then, Gaara was hardly ever away from the secret room. Actually, Gaara had a serious problem with cutting class, but his siblings never tattled and his dad never seemed to check his attendance record, otherwise he'd be meat. Kiba was slightly better, but he skipped classes every day, though not nearly as frequently as Gaara did. Naruto typically didn't attend history, and only recently had he began going to math. He often was greeted with the sick beats Kiba would drop and the sound of bass licks credit to Gaara when he walked into the room. Even Sakura visited over her lunch period, or when she had a substitute in any of her classes. Hinata would only skip occasionally due to her parent's strictness, but she still visited over lunch. Never would she skip english though: It was her favorite subject, and Naruto completely respected her love for literature.

Naruto knew that today, only Kiba and Gaara would be present: It wasn't Hinata's lunch period yet, and Sakura had an important Chemistry test. She wanted to be a doctor, so while she'd skimp out on english or history, no way would she miss Chem.

Naruto stormed in, a wave of bass plucking filling his ears.

"Hey Gaara", he greeted, his tense expression still across his face.

Gaara glanced at him with a lighter expression, silent. Naruto was used to it; that expression wasn't scrutinizing the way a _certain someone's_ was, it was just neutral, maybe slightly depressed, but friendly nevertheless.

Kiba came out from behind his drum kit, and said "What am I, chopped liver?"

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Bro, you have no idea how pissed I am." Naruto replied, leaning his guitar on the peeling wall beside him and collapsing onto the shitty couch beside it.

"What the Hell sunshine?" Kiba teased, "Cloud's rolling through? What, you're not playin' today?" he reiterated, referring to the rejected guitar.

Naruto pinched his nose and kicked his bag from the couch to spread out further.

"Yeah, apparently" he said grudgingly.

Gaara cocked a brow and let his fingers go lax. Kiba crossed his arms, and that action alone was enough to tell Naruto he was gonna be _pissed._

"I can't play tonight." Naruto said bluntly. Kiba snickered immediately, remarking, "which finger did you break?", referring to the time Naruto went to soccer tryouts and broke his pinky.

"I'm serious, dude." Naruto stated, running a hand through his golden tresses. Gaara sighed, looking at Kiba to validate that Naruto was being serious.

"Wh- What the fuck Naruto? You can't be serious! This is super important, you can't just ... _Skip!_ "

"I know! I just... Iruka told me I needed a tutor and went through the trouble of finding me one and now I have to meet with him tonight..."

"What? You're actually trying?" Kiba asked incredulously. It was surprising, considering that Naruto had given up on math at the end of 8th grade when he had spent the whole year alone, in his room, cramming to get a C+.

"I don't really want to, I mean it's not my thing in the first place but Iruka's trying so hard to help me and this is a really important year for the future..." Naruto trailed off, knowing the whole thing about the future was something that the three of them had agreed was constantly over emphasized in comparison to the present. They talked about it going into their freshman year, when they agreed they were done trying to please parents, guardians, colleges, teachers, and decided that they'd live in the moment because they didn't want to die having never really lived at all.

Kiba glared. "That's a retarded reason to start trying again. And even so, why don't you just get help from Hinata or Sakura?"

It wasn't a bad suggestion, but Naruto knew that although Hinata had excellent skill in english and was decent in history, her grade in math was not much better than his, which was why she barely ever skipped. Sakura wasn't a bad idea: She was actually a great student and was in advanced math and science. However, he knew she didn't really like the subject and only had a B+ because she was naturally good at it. She didn't want to spend any more time doing math than she needed to, but rather wanted to focus her attention on the sciences, and Naruto didn't want to hold her back.

"You know she'd lose patience and skin me alive." Naruto replied, and it was definitely true, given Sakura's temper.

"Fine, fine, but can't you meet... like, any other day basically?" Kiba said, exasperated

"I'm really sorry! I don't think its optional at this point!"

"You know we can't change the date! Man, this sucks. You're, like, a _feature_ in 'Invincible' and we really can't play without a guitar, it'll just sound..."

"Bare." Gaara said. Naruto knew he was one of the main highlights of the group. Sure, they were all greatly skilled at their instruments, but Naruto practically exuded confidence and loved the spotlight. That translated to an excellent soloist and lightning fast fingers.

He sighed, knowing there was really no other way. "The guy has something- Debate team, I think? - after school so we have to meet around five, and I think it'll be like, two hours or something so..."

Kiba nodded, knowing he wouldn't make it in time for the gig, which started at 6:30. It was early, in retrospect, but the college students attending typically got there early so they could get drunk as soon as possible and stay that way for as long as possible.

Gaara began plucking again, signifying he was thinking. The three sat in relative silence, waiting for the girls to arrive over their lunch period so they could tell them the bad news.

 _And we were all so pumped, too..._

Sakura arrived first, Hinata shortly after. Hinata brought enough rice cakes for everyone, so they all gathered around her lunchbox and munched eagerly.

Typical of a bunch of rowdy teenagers to completely forget food for the day.

"We have crappy news." Kiba said after a few bites. Sakura had been eagerly babbling about the night ahead of them, and only Hinata was smiling along with her. She stopped abruptly when they shared the news, and Hinata looked exceedingly disappointed.

"What a let-down." Sakura said, and Naruto busied himself by picking on the celebratory rice-ball. He hated to disappoint Hinata and the guys, but disappointing Sakura was like a knife to his knee. He'd always been attracted to her, and though they were close enough now and platonic as hell, he couldn't help that his feelings were magnified by her own.

"Who's your tutor?" Hinata asked, seeming to be the only one who was thinking of his needs over the night's disappointment.

None of the others had thought to ask in their delusional state of dismay. Naruto's fist clenched just thinking about it. He'd have to be spending his time with that asshole when his band could be playing at their dream location.

"Sasuke Uchiha." He spat, dreading the reaction Sakura was going to have. Kiba would probably have an aneurysm, too.

" _What?!"_ was all he said, and thankfully, aneurysm-free.

"I know." Naruto replied, searching Gaara's face and finding nothing short of disgust on it.

The three of them have hated that kid's guts since the day he transferred in 7th grade. All cocky, taciturn, difficult to speak to- if he spoke at all. All the girls, Sakura included, had orgasms for him on a daily basis. He barely spared them a glance, in exchange. Sakura had been popular back then, before her friend Ino had rejected her and left her in the dust. The two of them had competed constantly; baking brownies and shit for the guy, trying desperately to get his attention. Of course, Naruto never asked why they'd cut it off, and he assumed it was because they grew to hate each other over that stupid...

He digressed. Hinata had been indifferent toward Sasuke, so he wasn't even half as asinine to her as he was to the girls who showered him in adoration. But still, the only words they ever exchanged were in AP Literature, when she moved to ask him for a pencil and he told her to shut up.

Naruto supposed thats when she started listening to him when he ranted about Sasuke.

Sakura simply looked at him, but in her eyes, Naruto saw a dreamy look and he knew she still liked the prick.

"Well," she said, ignoring the glares that the guys were casting at her, "even if you don't like him, he'll be a great tutor."

Naruto dreaded the fact that she was probably right.

"I will never understand why the hell all you women like him so much" Kiba proclaimed.

Sakura shook her head, as if she knew something they didn't.

"There's something in there." She said.

* * *

Naruto hung out with the gang a bit longer before he, Hinata, and Sakura decided they should probably go to class. He had history, so he didn't mind going and decided he needed a distraction from his depressed state of anti-climax. Even Kiba, with some persuasion from Sakura decided he should probably get to science every once in a blue moon, so Gaara chilled with the remaining rice-balls and his bass.

Class was nothing exciting, though the teacher, -er, _doctor_ Ebisu, as he continuously reminded his students-, commented on his lack of attendance, which was met by a few snickers from Ino, who sat in the front of the class and tossed her hair about 40 times.

By the end of the day, Naruto was ticked off and far from excited for his tutoring session. Plus, he had to wait around until 5, and there was no way he could go home and find a ride back to the school.

His guardian was obviously not home, anyway...

So Naruto decided if he was to make this whole thing worth the time and misery, he might as well be as productive as possible and come up with his questions quickly so he could raise his grade and be done with Sasuke as soon as possible.

He went to the library- their meeting place- and retrieved his math sheet. He knew that even though there were only 20 problems, it would take him well over an hour to figure them out, considering he'd need to get some textbooks for reference.

 _UGH._

Pencil on paper, and symbols were traced across it with expert speed. N-A-R-U-T-O U-Z-U-M-A-K-I.

That was productive, right?

His leg bounced, and a hot chick with long red hair stalked passed him in tight skinny jeans.

Damn, he was easily distracted.

He had time though, right? So he whipped out his iphone 5c -bright orange, of course- and scrolled through his many Nirvana, Queen, and Pink Floyd albums. He was a real sucker for the classics, and was constantly trying to bring a new sound into his music, which for him was difficult, considering his preferences.

He settled for Lana Del Ray. Though he wasn't a big fan, he thought she was one of the more sophisticated artists of the day and she certainly had the ambient sound that the band was thinking of covering. He knew Sakura would be great at singing that melodramatic way, though she certainly had far reaching talents with the amazing way she could soften for their sad, acoustic sound as opposed to her usual loud, climactic sound.

Other than Lana, he did enjoy Linkin Park. Naruto used to be the lead singer of the band, before they realized that he was only good for being loud. He had an unusual voice, so it was funny that when he and Linkin sang in the upper register, they sounded similar. He forced Kiba and Gaara into doing a few covers with him. Naruto liked them because the lyrics were simple enough that people could feel the way they wanted, but either way they felt _something_ because of the sheer emotion and stress the singer forced through his vocal chords. Even if Naruto wasn't the lead singer frequently any more, more opting to go nuts on his guitar, he did hope to some day have Linkin Park's emotional sound.

There he went again, into the recess of his mind. Naruto shook himself, opting to allow the melancholy voice wash over him as he searched for a text book around the shelves.

Even with the text book, when it was found, Naruto couldn't begin to decipher the cryptic algebra before him.

By the time 4:30 had rolled around, though, he thought he had something going for him, so he attempted to solve the first five problems, following the examples in the text book with music blaring into his ears to help him get in 'the zone', as he called it.

He glanced up after a bit, and the sight of a body before him shocked him out of his zen.

Naruto tore the earbuds from his head, realizing it was Sasuke. But it was only 4:35!

"Startled easily, are we?" Sasuke said condescendingly, his notebook already before him.

"You came out of nowhere!" Naruto exclaimed, receiving a _shh!_ from the librarian across the room.

"I've been sitting here for a minute." Sasuke replied effortlessly, and Naruto could've blushed. He supposed he probably did.

"No you weren't..."

"Yes I was. You were listening to your music at an obnoxious volume."

Naruto grit his teeth to keep from snapping at him.

 _Calm, collected, get it over with._

"Whatever. Why are you here early anyway?" Naruto asked without legitimate curiosity.

"I'm club president, so we finish when I say we're finished." Sasuke replied cockily. Naruto couldn't stand that tone of voice, and Sasuke clearly didn't answer the question.

"Alright then." Naruto said. They stared each other down at that point, neither willing to make the first move. Naruto realized that Sasuke was a prissy little asshole, but he didn't know he was gonna be this competitive over something as silly as who would start the tutoring session first.

It was starting to get weird for Naruto, and as much as he didn't want to back down, he let out a sigh and decided to be mature for once.

"Teach me." He said, and Sasuke's face changed from complete neutrality to amusement.

"What, you want me to lecture you? I don't even know what your class is learning."

Naruto huffed, remembering Sasuke was in AP Calculous. He was 2 years ahead of Naruto, even if they were in the same grade. He also seemed rather proud of it, which ticked Naruto off even further.

"Okay, Mr. High-and-mighty, why don't you tell me how to answer number 6." Naruto mocked, and shoved his sheet at Sasuke's folded hands. Sasuke didn't even touch the paper, his eyes barely skimming over Naruto's work without moving a muscle.

"Why would we move on to six if you haven't done one through five correctly." It was less of a question and more of a statement, so Naruto clenched his fist in his lap to alleviate the frustration he was experiencing.

He literally did nothing but procrastination, listening to music, and math for the past three hours and he _still didn't get a single problem right._

"Okay, so what did I do wrong?" He inquired in a snippety tone.

"...Everything." Sasuke replied evenly.

 _Resist. Punching._

"I couldn't have done EVERYTHING wrong! Are you kidding me?!" Naruto exclaimed, assuming Sasuke was just being the prick he was.

"Well, when you skip class every day you can't possibly expect to know what's going on, moron."

That's it.

"You are such a self-righteous asshole! You think you deserve a gold star for attending class regularly, huh?!"

"Those are some big words, Naruto. You might want to tone it down a bit" Sasuke pronunciated, his ease and lack of mutual frustration driving Naruto off the edge.

"Just because you think you're gonna be valedictorian next year doesn't make you king of the world! You know, that Neji kid's a real dick, but I sure hope he gets the position just so you'll get down from your fucking pedestal!"

That seemed to strike a nerve in Sasuke, even if his face mostly held indifference.

"Oh yeah? Well, even if I'm not valedictorian next year, at least I wont be a lonely, floundering delinquent with no future ahead of him."

Naruto glowered at him with rage.

"I'm not the insecure little twelve year old I was when you came to this school in all your prissy-emo glory. I've got more friends than you'll ever have."

Sasuke shrugged at that, as though his friendless status didn't bother him at all. It probably didn't, when Naruto thought about it: He never was ignored or pushed around or anything, and he was sure while the guys of their school didn't like him much, if he wasn't so stuck-up toward them when he arrived, he probably could've been popular, especially given his connections with the girls. But how could anyone choose to be alone?

The librarian from earlier had a tensed face and her bony form paced over to their table.

She hushed them aggressively and told them they couldn't have their session there, but Sasuke managed to persuade her to allow them to finish for the day. She was averse, but he was pushy and well liked among teachers and staff, so she caved eventually.

Naruto was quiet. It was five o'clock finally, meaning they'd wasted a half hour arguing and staring at each other.

"So are you going to tell me what your test tomorrow is on? Or are you going to waste more of my time." Sasuke said, deadpan.

"It's on exponents or something." Naruto stated, to which Sasuke shifted the paper in front of him to validate Naruto's answer. It irritated him to no end that he wouldn't believe him about his own test.

"Well, there are multiple rules that you'll have to keep in mind. The first one being the rule of like-terms, meaning that any term with a variable cannot be combined with a term with the same variable squared, which is why number one is erroneous. In addition, what you did in number two is incorrect because of the rule of multiplying with variables to a power, in which case you add the exponents together when the bases are-"

Wait, what? Naruto drifted off. He'd honestly made an attempt at paying attention, he really did want to pass the next day. But all of Sasuke's words were too fancy and he was explaining so fast and kept telling him he was wrong. Naruto's brain was jumbled, and as he tried to regain focus, Sasuke realized he was lecturing thin air.

"You're not listening." He affirmed. Naruto groaned. Sasuke took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose, and let it all out. Naruto crossed his arms, already exhausted.

"You're lecturing is boring." Naruto said.

"You're brain is insipid." Sasuke retorted, "What else do you want me to do? I'm telling you what you did wrong and why."

"I don't know! What do you do with your other... _students?"_

"I just go over their mistakes with them, and typically, they listen because they're sitting here with me to _learn,_ not to pass the time."

Naruto rolled his eyes, yet again.

"Fine. If you just _love_ to criticize me, why don't you just sit next to me while I do a problem and every time I do something wrong, tell me?" Naruto suggested unhappily.

Sasuke 'tsk'ed him, and turned the paper toward Naruto, not even bothering to sit next to him; like he could do Naruto's sophomoric math upside-down.

Nevertheless, Naruto started to write on number six. He combined the numbers he knew, and-

"Wrong."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"You didn't use the conjugate."

"So?"

"So the terms wont cancel out."

" _So?"_

"So you're not simplifying the problem, idiot, you're making it more complex!"

"I don't even care!" Naruto exclaimed, and a student nearby turned to see the source of the sharp cry.

"That's a different problem entirely." Sasuke replied. He took Naruto's pencil straight from his hand, and upside-down, walked Naruto through the problem. Naruto could almost follow along, but he knew he'd never be able to do it himself.

By the end of the session, at 7 pm when Naruto was sure all of the band was sulking around because of his _useless_ absence, both boys were fed up with one another and certainly didn't want to have to meet the next day.

"So I guess we can't use the library tomorrow, cause of that lady..." Naruto drawled, packing up his shit and standing with his guitar.

"We'll go to your place. Start at six, end at eight." And with that, Sasuke exited the room, not leaving Naruto with any choice but to comply. At least he and the band could practice after school, or even hang out at his house just for fun.

Before exiting the library, he texted Gaara about his predicament.

 _I don't know why Iruka expects me to do this._

 _Hang in there_

 _I might maul him_

 _Get good footage if you do_

Naruto snickered. It was texts like those that made Gaara one of the coolest guys he'd ever met. He exited the school with a stupid smile plastering his face.

Naruto walked home, since the school was built into a small city, and it was easy for him to navigate even though the walk took him about thirty-five minutes. It was refreshing, and the cool fall air woke him up enough that he could tinker around a bit when he arrived.

The house was empty upon entrance, and even an hour and a half later, when eight-thirty rolled by, his guardian hadn't arrived.

 _Hope he's alright._

Naruto guessed Jiraiya wasn't going to be home that night, and he didn't have to wonder where he was. Naruto shut his eyes tightly, and with great pain, ate cup ramen and bedded himself without the company of anyone but his beloved guitar.

* * *

 _A/N: This will be a slow development. I hope you enjoy the ride, and if you do, drop me a review! 'Till next time :)_


	3. Chapter 3

It couldn't have been earlier than 2 am that Naruto shifted beneath his thick comforter at the intrusive noise of Jiraiya stumbling up the stairs, seeming giddy from whatever he'd spent his time doing that night.

Naruto had a pretty good idea of what.

The thumping of removed shoes hitting the hardwood floors. A guttural sigh. The shuffling of sheets, a creek in the bed.

Naruto could finally let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in the first place. He was home, he was safe. And although anger was boiling deep within his stomach (he often found he got cramps when upset with someone greatly- his stomach would toss and turn like there was something on fire inside of him), and although he was deeply frustrated that his guardian chose to spend his time away from his son, in seizure-inducing rooms filled with moving bodies and the dankness of sweat, he could relax.

The angry buzzing of an alarm clock that gave Naruto early heart palpatations, he discovered upon rolling over frantically, was not his own. Apparently, Jiraiya had waken himself today, the groan of _there's no way its seven already_ confirming Naruto's suspicions as he turned off his own alarm, set to go off in fifteen minutes.

It'd been a while since Naruto didn't have to rap three times on his guardian's door, demanding he wake up before missing another day of work. It had been a while since Jiraiya had slept at home, in general. Naruto hoped that he was taking a bit of responsability for once.

Though, Naruto doubted it. Sometimes Jiraiya just had inspiration, awoke on time, and wrote until the inspiration disappeared. He often published his novels immediately, but more times than not, he'd get himself distracted in the club, lose his inspiration, and scrap his hard work entirely.

Too many times had Naruto read mounds of unsorted papers he found in the garbage, scraps of undeveloped masterpieces abandoned for menial purposes.

It was amazing they even had a house, in reality.

It was even more amazing that Jiraiya lived all these years, riding off the occasional best-seller without any backup job, and wasting cash on whores and booze.

Coffee was brewing. Naruto didn't particularly like the bitter liquid, nor did he need it, but the earthy smell warmed his nose and made him feel like he was in a cozy sweater on a chilly fall day: It set a comforting mood, and suddenly all of his pent up anger and late-night pondering over his guardian vanished.

He meandered down the short stair case to the kitchenette in high-tops, torn, baggy, low-hanging jeans, and a Led Zepplin shirt with a hoodie. Jiraiya was spreading peanut butter across toast, the coffee machine lightly roaring behind him. When Naruto caught his eye, he grinned widely.

"Hey kid. Nice boxers."

Naruto rolled his eyes playfully and pulled the jeans up so they rested above his hip bones slightly.

"You old frog. I thought you were hip!" Naruto exclaimed, grabbing the plate that was extended toward him and devouring the toast in a single gulp.

Jiraiya laughed his haughty laugh. He took the cup of now-finished coffee in his hands and stood before Naruto, his light smile still present and warming Naruto's soul up just a bit.

"I hope I didn't wake you up last night."

"You did, pervy asshole! What the hell were you doing that you had to get home so late?!"

"More like WHO was I doing!" Jiraiya laughed, "Man, if you'd have seen this woman- gosh, she was beautiful! Definitely your type, kid, but a bit too old for you."

Naruto's grin faltered, though he wasn't sure what part of that sentence bothered him.

"Well, we'll see if she lasts the rest of the week. Plus, I doubt she was that hot if she did you!"

Jiraiya huffed, shaking his head as though he knew something Naruto didn't. Naruto could care less, but...

"So, what time is school starting these days, huh? Or do you not attend that anymore."

Naruto rested his cheek in his palm, looking away from Jiraiya's face and rather at the crumbs before him.

"Did they call you or something?"

"Your english teacher told me you didn't attend class yet this week."

"The band had this really important gig yesterday so-"

"I get it, Naruto, I know. But you should really stop cutting class; its important, even if you don't think it is now."

Naruto bit his tongue, knowing he'd regret his sharp retort. He could've said, 'funny coming from you, who was a failure in high school but got a PhD in creative writing', or worse, 'funny coming from a jobless pervert with no sense of importance for things like, I don't know, money or maybe your teenage son who you leave alone all the time'.

But he couldn't. Jiraiya was kind; he never raised his voice at Naruto except for that one time Naruto said his mom wouldn't have died had he not been born. Jiraiya was honest, told it the way it was; and Naruto knew he could tell him anything without negative consequence.

Anything.

"Want a ride to school?" Jiraiya interjected Naruto's thoughts, and Naruto nodded briskly.

"You going out?"

"I need ink for the printer. Gonna have that pretty lady read my latest."

Naruto nodded. Most of the time, Jiraiya sought a one-night stand and just cut it off. Though, on the occasional classy day, he sought a second one-night stand. He suspected the second.

Never a relationship. That was Jiraiya's self-proclaimed hamartia: Commitment. It was what Naruto liked least in his guardian, and the trait he refused to ever embody.

He accepted the ride to school, listening intently to Jiraiya's animated chatter, laughing with him even in the early hours of the morning. It wasn't often that they had the chance to connect again, but every time Naruto thought of addressing the issue, he was overcome by a wave of joy just being with his charismatic guardian and forgot they had a problem to begin with.

He was waved off at the entrance of his high school before he got the chance to ask what time Jiraiya planned on being home by that night.

And, on top of that, he was a half hour early.

He brought his guitar to the secret room, considering fiddling around on it for a half hour, but felt exceedingly unmotivated from the disappointment of the group's lack of concert the night before. Plus, Naruto was quite the team player, so playing by himself- even his kick-ass solo, the one he'd been working on for almost three months- was insipid for him.

He decided he'd bench press for fifteen, twenty minutes, wipe himself down and change.

What else is a guy supposed to do? Working out was the only activity Naruto was happy to do by himself, and at the early hour of 7:30, he could safely assume that the fitness room was void of any 'of those freaky sports kids', as Gaara had once hilariously put it.

So, naturally, it was a shocker when Naruto laid his workout attire-clad eyes on none other than Sasuke Uchiha.

He was on the treadmill, sweating in aggressive beads. Naruto thought his jaw must've dropped to the floor in surprise; what was a kid like Sasuke doing at school so unnecessarily early, and working his ass off on a treadmill no less?

It seemed he didn't even notice Naruto, and if he did, he did a damn good job at hiding it. His headphones were on, and Naruto vaguely wondered what kind of music he listened to: He wasn't cool enough for rock and roll, and not dumb enough for pop. He was too stuck up for rap, and not unconventional enough for orchestral.

It was probably the weather channel or something. He could peg Sasuke as a guy who'd spill his guts to the weather.

But what was Naruto doing standing there like a gaping fish? The jerk was bound to notice him sooner than later, and he didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being observed.

He went to the lifting section, the faint sound of fast-paced footfalls and frequent huffs ringing behind him. He couldn't shake the vague feeling of self-consciousness; he lifted irregularly, but often enough that his biceps had become visible. But with the intensity at which Sasuke was running (it was more like a long-distance sprint from hell), Naruto was feeling incredibly competitive - something that a happy, upbeat guy like him was not used to.

He decided he'd have to push himself, though he really didn't want to.

After about five minutes of intense lifting, Naruto could safely say his arms were on fire from the strain, and wondered if Sasuke's heart felt that same burn. He kept it up until the other boy slowed down, and relieved, Naruto rose from his position with a sweat worked up.

Now that ex-varsity soccer star was at a lower speed, his intake of breath slowing and moving from 'cardio' to 'cool down', he tore his earbuds from his head and to Naruto's disbelief, turned to him.

In a clear, effortless voice, the jogging male said, "What the hell are you doing here?"

 _Are you kidding?_

"The same reason you're here, bastard!"

"Yeah, moron, but why are you here _now?_ "

"You're not the only human capable of getting here early!"

Sasuke almost seemed satisfied by that answer. He turned his attention back to the treadmill, and Naruto thought he was off the hook until the footfalls went from slower to non-existent. Sasuke stepped off the treadmill and toward the direction of the locker room.

 _Forgot about that little detail..._

On one hand, Naruto could go work out more and try to avoid more interaction with Sasuke. But, that would leave him with almost no time to shower and change, and make him look moronic for stopping and restarting again. Sasuke surely would catch on, _not that Naruto cared or anything_ , but still.

On the other, he could suck it up and change as quickly as humanly possible.

In the end, the two boys found themselves within four feet of one another in the locker room, Sasuke chugging down a bottle of water and taking out his duffel bag, presumably containing his change of clothing. Naruto was not so organized, rather, he avoided eye contact at all costs and tore the clothes from his back in a swift motion.

"Are you using the showers?"

Naruto hesitated at the inquiry: It was the first legitimate question that had no condescending quality about it. Should he answer?

"Uh, I don't know yet?" Naruto replied, opening his locker up and finding Sasuke was rather irked by his simple response.

"Well," he replied, irritably, "can you make up your mind soon?"

"Why the rush? Just go, its not like there's just one shower!"

So much for Naruto's good morning. That was the effect Sasuke had on him; a day could go from soaring to crashing in a matter of seconds.

"I'm not going if you are." Sasuke declared.

"Wow," Naruto retorted with false offense, "I know we don't exactly get along but do I disgust you so much that you can't rinse your sweat off in my presence? I'm hurt!"

Sasuke seemed impatient, and Naruto observed that he had yet to remove any of his dirty clothing as of yet.

"I'll just have to wait until your slow mind processes 'to shower or not to shower', which given your track record, won't happen any time soon."

"Wh- What the fuck?! What, Mr Valedictorian thinks I'm stupid just because I can't do math?! You're a real ass, you know that? Go take your fricking shower!"

"As I said earlier, idiot, I'm not going to until you leave."

Why was he being so immature about this? It was such a trivial issue to get so fussy over and here Sasuke was, claiming ownership of the whole gym and getting all upset because someone else used it!

"Fine then, waste your time waiting for me, see if I care! What the hell is a rich kid like you doing here anyway? Don't you have your own personal gym or something to go be a priss over?"

"I have every right to be here."

"So do I! So stop trying to kick me out!"

Naruto seethed at the fact that the other didn't deny that he had a personal gym. Seriously, why the hell would he come here if he hates people so much and has the ability to have his isolated little routine at home?

But on the bright side, at least he managed to point out Sasuke's hypocrisy and silence him.

It was weird. Sasuke waited for him to leave, like he said he would. Naruto rolled his eyes upon exiting the room, hearing the mutter of _finally_ coming from inside. How could he be so vain?

 _Where are you bruh?_

 _I have to go to math 2day._

 _whyyyyy_

 _the quiz?_

 _come over soon tho cuz gaara's PO'd_

 _K_

Naruto shoved his iphone into the deep pocket of his jeans once he arrived in Iruka's room. He wondered when exactly he became Gaara's best friend, when he became obliged to pick him up when he was down. Not that he minded; Gaara was a great guy in a bad situation. He couldn't blame him for having no emotional stability given he had no emotional support for the longest time. Although Gaara lived with his biological father, whereas Naruto never met his parents but rather only heard stories of them through Jiraiya, Naruto was much better raised and highly respected Gaara for not being a sociopath by now.

...Though, Kiba often credited his non-sociopathic behavior to Naruto himself. Naruto wasn't sure what to believe on the topic.

His anxiety for the test was peaked when he sat at the back of the class and set his bag down. It made him uncomfortable that he left the guitar with Kiba and Gaara, not because he didn't trust them but because he felt more secure when it was with him; more at home, more...

Himself?

Regardless, he rubbed the sweat that had quickly accumulated on his palms onto his teeshirt, receiving the test from Iruka and pleading with whatever was out there to please, just this once, let him pass.

He couldn't stand failing when he actually put in effort. He'd accept it, move on and work harder, but it had been such a recurring event that he couldn't stand it.

 _I don't want Sasuke to know I failed either. Not that I care what he thinks._

The first two problems were simple enough, and Naruto thought he could maybe breeze through them. He heard the pages flipping around him, his classmates' pencils tapping furiously and, upon glancing at a girl in front of him, saw a pleased grin and relaxed cheek-muscles.

So he solved them, more or less. He struggled with a few here or there, and realized he was spending more time than the people around him were on the same test. He hurried, showing all of his work in hopes to get partial credit for the answers he knew he could start, but couldn't get the right answer to. But once the last page was turned, he was encountered with a whole other issue.

A fraction.

His worst enemy.

How was he supposed to get rid of X? He multiplied the denominator of the fraction by itself, but then the numbers on top became more complex and he couldn't make the fraction simpler, but rather expanded it. His paper was charred with ink and he was stressing.

Could he risk a glance at the girl's paper next to him? He pondered it, noticing that Iruka was preoccupied enough that he wouldn't be caught. But, the ethical voice inside of him told him that even if he succeeded, his success wouldn't be his. How could he be proud of an accomplishment that wasn't his own?

Naruto never lied to himself. So he returned his attention to his shaking pencil and the menacing problem, trying to slow down.

How were these kids doing this? And this was standard math! How could that jerk Sasuke just calmly breeze through math that was tailored to kids two years older than him?

Calm. _Calm._ Boring lecture. Insipid. What else had he said last night?

 _I'm showing you what you did wrong and why._

 _I don't even care!_

It was a fraction, with a variable, just like this. He expanded the terms, just like this.

 _You didn't use the conjugate._

 _So?_

 _So the terms won't cancel out._

 _So?_

 _So you're not simplifying the problem, you're making it more complex._

There was a flurry of pencil marks, graphite marking paper and the feeling of validation rushing through him. This is why kids loved getting A's on papers; this feeling of knowledge.

Of learning something for once.

In the end, he was the last test handed in. In the end, when the bell rang indicating the class period was over, Naruto was sure that he, at the very least, learned how to simplify a fraction.

In the end, Iruka flashed him a light smile that read "I'm proud of you", and overwhelmed Naruto with delight.

A/N: Hey guys! If you enjoy this story or have any suggestions, drop a **review!** Let me know how I'm doing when you get the chance. :) Also thanks for the support!


	4. Chapter 4

"How was it?" Kiba inquired upon Naruto's entrance into the room. He was seated on the piece-of-shit couch sporting a varsity jacket he presumably stole and eating a grilled cheese.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I think I passed!"

"You look star struck." Kiba replied sardonically, but still with approval. "Better not tell Sakura or she'll be a huge smart ass about that dickweed of yours."

Naruto laughed, then approached Gaara. "Got any food?" he asked him, knowing that when it came to Kiba, nothing came between him and his sandwich. Not even his precious dog, Akamaru.

"Nah man. Haven't gone shopping for weeks."

Naruto nodded understandingly, knowing Gaara would hate for him to pity him. He kind of regretted not bringing food now. What was a guy to do, get some from the cafeteria? He only had a dollar fifty on him anyway, but he supposed it was worth a shot.

"I'm headin' to the Caf."

Gaara stood up, wearing nothing but rags, and the two left Kiba alone with a cellphone and a sandwich.

"You good man?" Naruto asked, remembering Kiba's concern for the other teen.

"Fine."

For Gaara, that usually meant he had another night of insomnia, he missed his sister, or his dad was being a jerk again.

In this case, though, Naruto assumed he was depressed that they couldn't perform the night before. And that killed Naruto, because he knew it was his own fault.

They peeked into the AP Biology classroom, seeing Sakura in her natural habitat intensely scribbling down notes on the only subject she cared enough about to try in. She didn't even notice when Naruto made a duck face at her- his signature move- and the student beside her cracked up. He and Gaara scurried away from the doorway.

The cafeteria reeked with the presence of jocks and preps. Naruto remembered why he never bothered purchasing food here anymore: Better to starve than deal with those judgmental jerks. They retrieved a bag of Dorito's and exited just as an announcement rang out:

 _Sasuke Uchiha, please report to the main office._

Gaara smirked, and Naruto knew he had some malicious thoughts running through his head. He got creepy when he did that; pulling out that _I hope you'll get stabbed in twenty three seconds_ look, or enjoying the expense of others.

Their conversation shifted from 'what chips' to the boy mentioned in the announcement when Gaara asked, "Was it horrible?"

Naruto immediately knew what he was referring to.

"Pretty crappy, honestly."

"At least you learned something."

Naruto didn't know what to say to that.

"He has to come over to my place today. I'm afraid I'll stab him."

Gaara seemed to fancy the idea, actually.

"Hide the body in the fridge. Nobody will suspect a thing."

Naruto crinkled his nose.

"Dude that's messed up."

But he chuckled anyway. Jiaiya would have no suspicions. What's the difference between meat and a human carcass anyway?

Kiba stole a chip, but for the most part Naruto and Gaara shared the bag. It wasn't the most nutritious lunch, but neither was cup ramen, and normally that's what Naruto went for anyway.

"Hey man, you hear that?"

Naruto turned to Kiba, whose face was intent toward the doorway. There was the acute sound of a head hitting lockers; Naruto knew the sound because he himself had performed the action many times after math. The boys approached the doorway with curiosity, Naruto playfully tiptoeing and pissing of Kiba, who punched him in the arm.

They peeked their heads out the door, and from across the hall, was none other than Sasuke.

"What the Hell is _he_ doing here?" Kiba whispered. Naruto remembered he was summoned to the office, but for some reason, he was across the hall stressing about something.

He was pacing around his locker, punching numbers into his iphone. There was no service. He thrust a hand into his hair, shoving the phone into the breast pocket of his collared shirt, and frustratedly muttered to himself.

"This is really funny," Kiba whispered from beside Naruto, "I wish my phone wasn't dead so I could snapchat it to Sakura."

Naruto would've snickered, but he didn't want them to be caught. He kept his eyes intently on the scene playing out before him, and focused his well-trained ears on Sasuke's vague voice to decipher it.

 _"Why does he have to be home early... I thought I at least had the week..."_

But that's all he caught before the teen rose and begrudgingly hoisted his bag over his shoulder, hurrying away from the doorway with his eyes trained on his feet.

The boys turned to each other.

"How fucking weird was that!" Naruto exclaimed.

Gaara nodded, "maybe you won't have to get tutored tonight."

Naruto doubted it, but smiled anyway. It pissed him off that Sasuke seemed upset that his parents were home early and got him out of the rest of the school day. Naruto would kill to see Jiraiya more frequently and hated school.

(How selfish does someone have to be to not appreciate their parents?)

"Hey guys," Kiba interrupted Naruto's thoughts, "Hinata just texted us. Says she's free to rehearse tonight."

Gaara shrugged, down with it because he was free practically 24/7. Naruto scratched the back of his head guiltily.

"Uh, I've actually got tutoring tonight."

Kiba cracked up at that. "Oh man, you're really in for the long run, huh?"

Naruto smiled sheepishly, hating that Kiba was right. "He's coming to my place at around 6, so if you want to jam I have to be home by then."

"Just do your place." Gaara chimed in. Come to think of it, whenever Sasuke showed up the guys could just ditch and be done with it.

"That sound good to you, Kibs?"

"Swell." He replied, whipping out his phone to give Hinata the memo. Naruto figured he'd tell Sakura, so he sent her a quick text.

(They should definitely make a group chat so they didn't have to coordinate like this anymore. He'd have to suggest it.)

"God I don't want him at my house!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly. "He'll infest it with his disease."

"What disease would that be?" Kiba asked playfully.

"Dickweed syndrome. Highly contagious and deadly."

At that, the bell signifying ninth period was over chimed, and the three picked up their instruments and darted out of their room to retrieve Sakura and Hinata from their classes. It was about time they had a chance to get together for an extended period of time, and none of them were about to wait.

"Bro, I almost forgot how chill Jiraiya is. He got you an eight-pack?"

"You think that's _mine?_ He just trusts that I wont drink any!"

"Well, I guess we're going to be violating his trust then, eh?"

Naruto sighed, though he wasn't particularly upset by Kiba's words. In fact, the five of them frequently cracked open a beer or two without any reparation, because none of their parents were particularly involved in their lives. Even Hinata's parents, as they were so busy with Neji they never spared a glance at her. It was both a privilege for Naruto to be home all the time, and a curse.

...Because he was always left to clean up after.

Although not financially well-off, a few birthdays ago Jiraiya had managed to afford a few speakers and a mic for the band. Naruto reflected upon the memory fondly, and frequently. He remembered his shocked, teary expression when he opened the giant box and jumped into his guardian's arms with sheer joy.

Kiba tossed Sakura a beer, and she caught it with ease. It wasn't a question that all of them would be drinking that night: Kiba and Gaara had nothing to lose with their lack of integrity, Sakura and Naruto just passed two of their most worrisome exams (one because of actually giving a shit, one because he was forced to), and Hinata liked to lose herself often; it helped her escape the anxiety and fear she was often trapped in. Plus, as a lover of literature, she claimed it gave her extra creativity.

Naruto had his suspicions about that.

But this was just beer. Not weed; as if any of them could afford it with their impoverishment/being cut off from any finances.

Naruto flicked the top off the canned beverage, wondering if Jiraiya would notice the whole pack was missing, and feeling slightly guilty for taking advantage of him in that way. He shrugged and slurped the drink down, feeling a buzz almost immediately as he switched his amp on and helped the others find theirs, including the spare synthesizer Hinata left here a few months back. She had three, though, being rich and all; one for the room, one she left at Naruto's, and one at home.

Naruto recalled the one and only time Gaara ever raised his voice; he hollered some monstrosity about Hinata having no hardships because of her wealth. She immediately broke into tears, and after Naruto got up and punched Gaara in the face, Hinata had calmed down enough to mutter that it wasn't her wealth at all if her parents didn't like her enough to share it with her. That shut him up. Though, she seemed content living minimalistically, her only complaint being the loveless relationship she shared with her family.

"You're out of tune, Naruto", Sakura reprimanded, humming lightly to herself to warm her voice up slightly. She finally removed that collared shirt she had been wearing to seem professional for her bio teacher, and revealed along with her tight-fitted jeans a laced tube top Naruto recalled purchasing with her when they found cocaine on the bleachers after homecoming and snorted the whole line together. She never came across as a rocker to him until that moment; just an average girl with a passion for science and a hatred for the world. She even bleached her hair bright pink, which freaked the hell out of her parents that night. She ended up keeping it that way, and even went so far as to chop it off at one point.

Though they all dressed different, whether it be Gaara's rags, Hinata's soft grunge, Kiba's goth, Sakura's feminine punk, or his own hipster look, they somehow looked coordinated with their beanies or the girls' blue lipstick they only wore at a concert.

"Ready?" Sakura asked, turning to give them all a view of... something Naruto appreciated.

"Yup." Kiba verified.

Sakura took a swig of beer. Naruto remembered a couple months back being worried about her drinking, due to her small frame and poor eating habits. She almost punched him, popped a keg and downed it in a matter of seconds. Of course, she couldn't walk home, so Hinata called her parents and claimed they were staying at her house, though they certainly couldn't because Hinata's dad would never allow her the luxury of having a guest over. Sakura ended up crashing in Naruto's bed, and he slept on the couch. She didn't even know where she was the next morning, and Jiraiya thought it was all hilarious, so long as she never did it again.

"One two three four!"

They were off, complex beats and loud vocals swimming aggressively throughout the small house. It was intensely satisfying when Naruto finally had the opportunity to play his wicked solo with the rest of the band backing him up; Sakura played a bit of guitar, so she covered him while he rocked out. They were always the best teammates, even better than he and Kiba were in the beginning. Naruto credited it to the fact that he'd always wanted to bang her, though he supposed now that he was slightly more mature than his thirteen year old self that it was because they were opposites, where his main skill was on the guitar with a bit of vocal skills, and her skills were mainly in her voice and backuped with the guitar. The banging theory was his preferred one, though.

"That was epic!" Sakura exclaimed at the end, peeling the sticky strands of hair from her perspiring forehead.

"Seriously, bro," Kiba chimed in, "I'm so pissed we didn't get to show that off last night."

Naruto grinned mischievously. He loved that song, and definitely wanted to play it next gig.

"I think we've got that one down." Gaara said. "It's time to start searching for some more stuff."

"Yeah, definitely." Naruto agreed, checking the piece-of-shit clock on the wall, and realizing that they only had fifteen minutes until Sasuke arrived.

Stupid asshole.

"Let's start now."

Naruto grabbed his macbook from off the couch, and the gang gathered around it. They typically listened to itunes radio for ideas, skipping the junky pop as they went and criticizing almost everything that came on. But Naruto was acutely aware that it would take up time they didn't have available, so he instead went on youtube and listened to some of the classics: The Redhot Chili Peppers, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and Nirvana. Hinata suggested they try something more contemporary, since they tended to lean toward the oldies, so Naruto typed in Three Days Grace. Sakura took out her phone and listed some My Chemical Romance songs they didn't know yet, but Gaara criticized her because they already covered a lot of their stuff.

In the end they settled on 'Bring Me to Life' by Evanescence, since it'd been a while Sakura had vocals that were in an easy range for her and practically forever since Naruto had a chance to do backups. Naruto said they definitely should keep looking, though, because they could learn any song in a week, tops.

"It's the same bands over and over again. We need to find new groups, not new songs." He claimed, and the others couldn't deny it. How many Green Day songs did they know?

A heck of a lot, that's for sure.

Sakura gave Hinata and Kiba a ride home; she had her permit, but was eligible for her licence. She said it was practically the same thing.

Naruto and Gaara continued jamming, listening to the song on replay enough times that they had it memorized and could learn it by ear.

There were a series of knocks on the front door, and Naruto shared a look of misery with Gaara, who looked like he'd stab someone.

"If you hurt him," Naruto warned, "I'll get sued."

Though mostly a joke, it was true Gaara'd hurt people before. He rolled his eyes and took his bass with him into Naruto's room. Naruto guessed he would just crash there, which wasn't an unusual occurrence.

He opened the door begrudgingly, coming face to face with Sasuke, who wore an apathetic expression as usual.

"Took you long enough", Sasuke said, starting the evening off just perfect.

"I was milking every second away from you for all they were worth." Naruto replied, just as snippy with his tone.

Sasuke shoved passed him, not bothering with manners or simple human consideration. Naruto clenched the doorknob and shut it, finding Sasuke already seated at the small, wooden table that sat beside the kitchenette and in front of the stairs. He seemed almost _offended_ by the mess of beer cans and amplifiers with wires scattered across the floor.

Stuck up, as usual. Though that was no surprise.

Naruto sat before his tutor, face a tight knot of discomfort. They stayed like that for a few moments, Naruto realizing too late that Gaara was still plucking around upstairs, and the sound could be heard through the thin wooden floor of his bedroom into his miniscule ' _living room-kitchen-dining room_ ' room.

"So," Sasuke started, "you had a few friends over, got hammered, hid them upstairs and plan on wasting my time with a drunk tutoring session?"

Naruto grimaced, "How many people do you think I can fit in here? I'm sure a rich-bitch like you noticed how small this place is, and that's one bass you're hearing."

"Well, judging from the mess all over here, I'm assuming you have quite a few people here. Unless, of course, you want me to believe _you_ drank six beers by yourself."

"How could I be 'drunk' like you said if I shared the pack with all those people you think are upstairs?"

Sasuke smirked. "You seem like the kind of guy who can't hold his alcohol."

He did not!

"What?! As if Mr. Honor's student would know the first thing about it, anyway!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I don't really care what you did before I came here, but if you're wasting my time, I'm going to be angry."

"Do I look drunk to you?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"You make it sound like its ridiculous. But given the state of this place and all of the cans of beer laying around, I think my suspicions are quite well founded."

"But I'm not drunk!" Naruto couldn't believe he was getting so angry over something so... _stupid!_

"Well, I suppose you always seem drunk to me."

Naruto grit his teeth. The kitchen was right behind him, the silverware drawer below the cabinet on the left, and the knives- well sharpened- right on top.

 _Control._

Sasuke seemed over the dispute, not giving Naruto enough time to retaliate after that last comment. He retrieved a notebook from his bag, and to Naruto's surprise, handed it to him.

"What's this?" Naruto asked.

"It's my notes from Algebra 2."

Naruto was baffled.

"And you're giving them to me?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, moron?"

Naruto could've replied. He didn't, still shocked that Sasuke would give him something he clearly worked hard on, even though for him it was a few years back, being accelerated and all.

It didn't matter. Freshman Sasuke was still smarter than Junior Naruto. He opened the notebook, and as suspected, there was the small, could've-been-typed handwriting inside depicting many notes on lessons from Sasuke's past and Naruto's future, example problems, and step by step outlines for each unit.

He might as well have purchased a textbook, but a simplified, 'wikihow' version.

"Thanks, I guess." Naruto said lamely. Sasuke nodded.

"I'm giving this to you, so don't damage it or lose it. If I ever have to tutor someone else, I'm going to need a photocopy at least."

He only sounded slightly accusatory, so Naruto didn't get angry. He nodded and opened his own chicken-scratch filled notebook to start the lessons.

"Before we start," Sasuke said, "can you please have your friends stop making that noise upstairs? It's incredibly annoying."

Naruto glared at him. This guy could switch from making accusations to giving away valuable possessions to arguing in a matter of seconds.

"First of all, I have one friend over, that's it. And second, no way is that 'annoying'! It's Arctic Monkeys, one of the best bands ever?"

Sasuke snorted. "I don't care who it is. It's background noise and its annoying."

"It's not noise! It's music!"

"Well, whatever it is, make it stop!"

Naruto thrust a hand into his hair, frustrated all over again. He happened to like Gaara's playing a ton.

"I don't care who you think you are, but that's good music you're hearing. You just don't get it because you don't have a creative bone in your body."

Sasuke seemed to think that he _did_ get it, as he did on most issues. But, nothing Naruto said had an effect on him. He seemed almost amused, actually, as if creativity wasn't something to be sought after anyway. Or maybe he just didn't give a shit what Naruto said, because he was poor and stupid and didn't have anything but a band.

There he goes again, making a single facial expression that forces Naruto into thinking negative thoughts. Why did this guy have such a profound effect on him?

Sasuke didn't respond, so Naruto moved on and opened his notebook. For some reason, Sasuke silence was louder than any witty insult he could conjure.

When the clock hit eight and Naruto still didn't understand how to solve radical inequalities, Sasuke didn't leave. He stayed and irritably continued explaining the same problem, over and over again, in different ways and sometimes the same way but in different words, until Naruto followed along. At around eight-thirty, Sasuke finally packed up his bag, and called someone for a ride.

"You're not licenced?" Naruto asked.

"I am. Just don't have a car, my... _Dad_ is using it."

Naruto nodded, but secretly wondered if he just crashed it. It seemed more likely than a rich guy not getting a car right after being licenced.

But, then again, the evening was full of surprises, the first of which involved the notes, and the second of which Naruto had realized early on. Sasuke didn't ask about the whereabouts of Naruto's parents. He'd worried about that, not wanting to explain why his guardian wasn't home at 8:30 pm, how much time he spent alone. That he was adopted. That he never met his parents.

But Sasuke didn't ask. It made the evening slightly more bearable, and it was the first time someone had stayed in his house late at night and hadn't inquired about the subject.

When his ride pulled up, it hadn't been a Porsche or a Lamborghini: It was an Uber cab. A short, stout man in the front swung into Naruto's driveway, and Sasuke left wordlessly, pulling out his wallet on the way.

Surprise number three: No parental dependence.


	5. Chapter 5

6:15 am. Eyes flutter open. Switch off the alarm clock before it makes a sound. Just enough time to scrub clean, dress, comb, walk to school, and 35 minutes to spare. As usual.

Fingers grapple for an iphone. The bed creaks, and the wrist stills mid motion. The warmth from behind doesn't shift. A breath. Body slipping out of bed, iphone on and dialing, all as usual.

A ringtone, but no voice. All as usual.

Burning water. Hotter, please. Cleaner. Wet hair, but no dryer: no noise.

6:38 am. Hands yank on slim-fitting jeans. A belt is necessary. It seems a hoodie is not today, but a collar still is. Perhaps even a turtleneck. Hurrying.

All is as usual. No time for breakfast, the tame nightmare on the bed stirred. Oxfords are pulled on on the pavement. Feet pace past the fountain.

Safe.

* * *

 _Hey kid, real sorry about last night. I hope you at least had_

 _your friends over._

 _On the bright side, did you know Betsey's Donuts delivers?_

 _Best news ever, am I right? To celebrate, there should be_

 _half a dozen at the front door at around 7. Enjoy!_

Naruto awoke to the buzzing of a text from Jiraiya, arriving in his inbox at 6:57 exactly. He hadn't returned the night before, and like many of the nights he came home late, Naruto let Gaara crash at his place. He always appreciated the company, and knew Gaara would rather live at Naruto's then his own place any day. There was really no drawback.

Naruto elbowed the warm body beside him in the ribs, after which came a soft grunt. Gaara's eyes opened, and though Naruto would certainly be pissed if someone woke him abruptly, Gaara was probably thankful he'd slept at all. He looked almost relieved, waking to Naruto after a night of more than four hours of continuous rest.

"There's gonna be donuts, man."

Gaara wasn't a naturally expressive guy, but "donuts" made his face go from content to thrilled in a millisecond.

"Yay," came the exhausted response. The phone in Naruto's palm vibrated, capturing his attention once again.

 _Oh, and your teacher called. I'm proud of you, for_

 _accepting this challenge. I was told you don't like the guy,_

 _but know that you just have to use him the way he's using_

 _you: grades, for college adoration. Remember that it's not_

 _about the success but about the journey, kid._

 _I'm having company tonight ;) so please relocate, just_

 _for today. Have a good one._

Jiraiya's initially cryptic text was quickly deciphered to be about his tutoring that night; Naruto had forgotten to tell his guardian about Sasuke entirely. It wasn't that odd of him, since he barely got to interact with Jiraiya, but it was nice to know that he knew about his life.

"So he's kicking you out tonight?" Gaara brusquely translated. Naruto frowned at him sarcastically, but inside, he realized his friend was right. Jiraiya was "proud" of him for getting tutored, so long as it was out of his way when he was getting laid.

"Guess so."

They sat in tired, comfortable silence, napping lightly until the alarm went off.

Naruto loaned Gaara some of his sweats and a Coldplay shirt. Gaara stuck with his sneakers from the day before, but the rest of his clothing was tossed in the laundry basket beside Naruto's bed.

Naruto settled on black jeans with zippers and a white muscle tee, topped off with his army vest and Keds.

The two of them ate donuts with the stereo playing various CD's behind them. Jiraiya embraced what Naruto once called "technology from the Middle ages", but now realized was super hip. He even had vinyl, which was sick.

They took out the trash, since it was filled to the brim with the beers from the night before. Naruto also figured that if Jiraiya was taking home a lady, he'd be a bit embarrassed if the house was atrocious. Although bitter about the situation, Naruto politely closed his bedroom door so the mess inside was not visible.

The bus ride was silent, but Naruto's mind was swimming with ways he could possibly explain his predicament to his callous tutor. He couldn't be honest about it; it would be too mortifying. He resented that Jiraiya would put him in this kind of position, but alas, this was his life.

So when he rushed over to the gym, mind racing, he crossed his fingers tightly that he didn't miss the exercise maniac.

But nobody was on the treadmill, so Naruto worriedly spun on his heel, into the locker room, past the showers, and eventually back into the hall.

... to, in his rushing flurry, almost plow down Sasuke.

"In a hurry, I see." Sasuke said calmly, standing in fitted jeans, oxfords, and a red turtleneck. It wasn't that cold out, perhaps 55 degrees, but somehow the boy was unaffected by the warm clothing he was wearing. In his hand was a coffee, presumably from the small cafe that sat a block away from the school.

"Yeah," Naruto panted, wiping his forehead, "I was looking for you."

Sasuke raised a brow. "For what reason?"

"Don't flatter yourself, its not 'cause I wanna see you," Naruto claimed, assuming the look on Sasuke's face was cocky in some way without having to look at him. "We can't meet at my house tonight, my dad..."

...Is a nymphomaniac? Might get wasted and drag home a woman?

"...has a meeting." He finished lamely.

His heart rate increased. There was no way Sasuke would buy that. How could any group of people meet in that tiny little shack Naruto lived in? Not only was it too small, but Sasuke was aware of its disorganized state from his visit the night before. Naruto was deeply disturbed by the fact, and felt like he shared some intimate secret with the guy he despised greatly.

If Sasuke caught Naruto's completely obvious lie, he pretended not to. Though, judging from the coffee, perhaps he was simply too exhausted to give it much thought, or maybe it was too early for him to try and argue with Naruto. Whatever it was, Naruto was relieved when Sasuke simply nodded.

"I suppose we'll have to relocate to my house," Sasuke said, sounding as though he was masking reluctancy. "I might have to do some time after eight, as I might have..." a pause, perhaps hesitancy. "Actually, I'm fairly sure my activities are canceled, so we'll meet right after school."

Naruto nodded, glad they were at least being civil. Though, Naruto wondered what activities would be canceled, given the rain they were expecting was not a storm.

"Okay, where should I find you?"

"Meet me in the front; I'll call a cab." Sasuke said.

Of course he was too stuck-up to take the bus. But Naruto wanted to end the conversation as quick as he could, so he nodded yet again and watched as Sasuke paced off to... who knows.

* * *

 _what time's the gig 2nite and whats the address_

 _U need 2 get ur shit 2gether_

 _layoff it miss 'I casually and discreetly removed my bra at Kiba's and forgot it there'_

 _WE DONT TALK ABOUT THAT TIME_

 _well, u dont. we do ;)_

 _:/(_

 _sriously tho_

 _starts at 7. set up at 6:45 latest 4 sound check_

 _thx._

By the end of the day, Naruto was excited enough for the concert that night that his obligation to go to Sasuke's house was shadowed. So when his nineth period practice rift with Hinata and Gaara was interrupted by the dismissal bell, Naruto couldn't say his mood was ruined: just dampened.

"Naruto..." Hinata's soft voice cut through the shrill bell, "Don't let Sasuke affect your mood tonight. I-It'll hurt the performance a lot."

Naruto nodded and flashed her his charismatic, reassuring smile.

"Nah, you know I can go from rock bottom to cloud nine, Hinata. No worries!"

Hinata blushed slightly, agreeing. Naruto knew she had feelings for him, which was unfortunate given that he very much wanted a girlfriend, but thought of her as a close friend. He thought about sleeping with her- she'd surely do anything he wanted from her, to an extent, if it made him happy. But, as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he felt guilty; if he learned anything from his irresponsible guardian, it was that one doesn't have a one-night stand with someone who wants a relationship. That was something a complete sleaze would do, and Naruto happened to respect the opposite sex- or, people in general- enough to avoid using them to his advantage.

Plus, how would sex change their band's dynamics? Most definitely for the worse.

"Later." Gaara muttered, and Naruto was off.

Sasuke was talking to - or, rather, being talked at by - a girl with long red hair and glasses who Naruto vaguely remembered was Karin. She, Juugo and Suigetsu all tended to follow Sasuke around, though Naruto never understood why. Based on the scene playing out before him, though, Naruto could guess Sasuke didn't care much about them, so they couldn't be considered his 'friends'.

It seemed the other teen noticed Naruto, as he excused himself abruptly and paced over to him.

"Lets go."

Naruto complied, glancing at Karin, who seemed almost... Jealous?

Naruto couldn't help but internally laugh at that notion.

But she was something, and although Sasuke seemed like a prude, he bet the two of them got it on at least once. Sasuke, unlike Naruto, was definitely the kind of guy to take advantage of someone's emotions.

He followed him into an Uber cab, Sasuke not saying a word to either the driver or his student, but Naruto managed to chit-chat with the driver quite a bit.

(It was partly because of actual curiosity about the other man sitting in the vehicle, and partly to irk Sasuke.)

"Its this house on the right." Sasuke spoke, finally. When the car pulled in, both Naruto and the driver seemed stunned, to say the least.

That wasn't a _house._ It was a mansion.

"Are you _kidding_ me?!" Naruto exclaimed, "You could probably fit two of the high school in here!"

Sasuke huffed. "It's not polite to comment on the size of someone's house."

"What _house_? You mean the Tsar's winter palace?!"

Sasuke ignored that comment, stepping out of the vehicle and tipping the driver. He walked casually over to the gates, entered in a sequence of numbers and Naruto observed with the driver as the gates opened, revealing a cobblestone driveway, lined with magnificent gardens and at the end- a fountain.

"See 'ya man." Naruto muttered with sheer envy lacing his voice. The driver nodded, seeming bitter himself.

Sasuke was a few meters ahead of Naruto, his wallet still open, counting his cash. Naruto scorned him.

"You gave that driver a twenty."

"So?"

Naruto seethed. How he wished he could have a twenty; he wouldn't have had a piece of the baguette Sakura picked up for her mom as a lunch. His stomach was still void, save for the 3 donuts he had for breakfast.

"So, for a lot of people, that's a lot of cash! And you're just throwing it around like its nothing!"

"Well, for me, it's not a lot of money, as I'm sure you're beginning to observe."

Naruto pulled at his hair frustratedly. How could someone care so little about something that matters so much? How could someone have so much and yet be so angry?

Naruto marveled at the fountain, the roses by the steps to the columned porch, equipped with several cushioned benches. He supposed this house was excellent for meetings, or perhaps even parties when Sasuke's parents weren't around.

He wondered if Sasuke ever threw crazy parties with the other rich kids when their parents were doing business, with expensive drugs and a stripper and loads of Champagne.

Though, he probably just hosted group projects.

"Why didn't we just take the bus? You know, so you didn't have to drop _twenty dollars_ on a ride that's fifteen minutes." Naruto asked, arms crossed as Sasuke whipped out his keys to the front door.

"How would you like to drive by my house every day?" Sasuke commented.

Naruto didn't think of that. He supposed he'd hate it, perhaps grow to resent Sasuke even more if he had to see him walk into this place every day, minutes before he stumbled into that shack he lived in.

He was actually considering the needs of others.

Or maybe he was embarrassed about being so fortunate?

The interior was even better, though its sheer size alone was intimidating enough that Naruto didn't wish to stay there for more time than necessary. He was led into the kitchen, and they set up for their session.

"Do you want food?" Sasuke inquired, probably noticing the enamored look on Naruto's face.

"Uh, yeah, whattaya have?"

"You can figure it out yourself."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but proceeded to investigate anyway. He found mostly healthy food, but with enough searching, he managed to discover a granola bar, which would suffice.

It was dead silent. With a home of such a size, it was certainly necessary to fill it with energy that was not present.

Come to think of it, it must've sucked whenever Sasuke's parents weren't around; this silence was ridiculously uncomfortable.

But there was still the desire to explore. Sasuke was distracted, likely taking the time that Naruto was dilly-dallying to begin his own homework. Naruto slipped out of the kitchen, into a soft blue living room, containing a grand piano.

He darted toward it, recognizing that it was the brand Hinata had in her place. There were all the masters- Mozart, Chopin, Bach- in a small drawer beside it. Pieces far too difficult for anyone who wasn't a professional to play, but nevertheless, marked with dates from years previous. There were pieces Hinata had mentioned in passing, Chopin's first Ballad, that she deeply wished she had the skills necessary to play, which made Naruto laugh. She was excellent at what she did, but insisted that her abilities didn't stretch that far.

Yet, he had reminded her. She blushed, at that.

"Snooping through my brother's stuff?" Sasuke startled Naruto. He jumped and proceeded to scratch the back of his head, caught red-handed.

"He plays this stuff?"

Sasuke sighed, taking the sheet music from Naruto's fingers and glancing at the title and the date at the top. "2008. He played this when he was fifteen."

Naruto was impressed. Sasuke had a cool brother.

"Is he a music major?"

Sasuke looked amused at that question. "Why would he be?"

"Because only really good pianists can play this kind of stuff..?"

"Doesn't mean anything. My brother's good at everything. He wouldn't pick a useless major."

Naruto frowned. This guy was a total philistine.

"He went to college a year early, didn't even take the music with him. It's like he plans on never playing again." Sasuke lamented. Something in his voice sounded sad. He must've loved his brother a lot.

"So," Naruto changed the subject, a bit thrown-off seeing Sasuke exposed, "Where's your bathroom?"

"Down the hall on the left." Sasuke's tone returned to all-business. "Don't explore though, you might get lost and I'm not looking for you."

Naruto nodded, proceeding down the lengthy hallway. It appeared that Sasuke lived in the same quiet home that Naruto himself lived in; of course, Sasuke's was quite opulent in comparison to Naruto's, but that was an entire other story.

Naruto ignored Sasuke's request not to explore, too fascinated by the sheer size of the home, let alone the many expensive items within it. He observed, walking down the wide hallway, an abundance of hooks with frames hanging from them. But, when he stopped to glance at the picture inside, he found a void, like whatever photograph had once occupied the space was removed but the shell of was left standing.

It was unsettling. So Naruto turned right into a new hall, missing the restroom entirely, into a circular room with a wall made of glass.

 _Woah..._

It was pastel pink, the color of Marie Antoinette's bedroom, if he recalled correctly. The natural light from the sun beamed into the room, and along the walls were lavish paintings.

"Is this Monet?" Naruto inquired to himself, wondering why someone would ever want to leave his or her house if it was. These weren't any ordinary works; they were pieces only masters could create.

Forgetting himself, Naruto sat upon the odd, single chair that was in the room's center. He ignored the wallet that was on the footrest before him, marveling at the beautiful works before him instead.

While the room was softly colored, many of the paintings featuring close people or stylistically tender in nature, there was one painting that stood out from all the rest. It was not on the wall near the door; the one where the others were hooked and the light hit just right. It was faced backwards, propped up against the wall. When Naruto paced over to it, he found it was not meant for this room at all: It was a dark portrait of a man. The brush stroke appeared to have been angry and rough, streaks of dark blue hues, grays and blacks formed a convoluted face of a man with circles beneath his eyes, and the hardened eyes appeared bloodshot. The light source came from the upper left, as though the man was being interrogated. The right side of his face was dark, the curve of a taut cheekbone shadowed aggressively with deep purples, and yet, the face was straight, the background black, and only one side of the face was easily conceivable.

It was fascinating. It was something Naruto imagined in a museum, in front of which he and Hinata would stand for hours trying to weave all of the art's carefully placed threads of meaning together. This person was one that was darkly beautiful, but perhaps deeply flawed.

Was it anger?

Naruto wished he could be sure. But he'd hate to be caught snooping a second time. He placed it back against the wall, picking the wallet off of the floor, and found his way back to Sasuke.

* * *

"Took you long enough," said the other boy, quizzically glancing at the wallet in Naruto's palm, but refraining from commentary.

"Hehe, sorry. I got a bit lost."

"Where did you go?" Sasuke asked, sounding a bit defensive.

"Uh," Naruto was slightly taken aback, "the bathroom...?"

Sasuke scrutinized him, so Naruto shifted his attention elsewhere. He drew the wallet in front of him and placed it on the counter before Sasuke.

"I found this laying around."

Sasuke raised a brow, opening the small pockets and counting the money inside.

"Sixty two fifty. You didn't take any, did you." It was more of a statement than an actual inquiry, so Naruto just nodded his head.

"What, does that surprise you? Thought I was a thief?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Its just... more likely that someone who needs money will steal it than someone who doesn't. I wouldn't have blamed you if you did take it."

Naruto grinned.

"So can I have some then?"

Sasuke scowled, and shoved the wallet into his pocket. Naruto laughed at that; the guy was funny when flustered.

"By the way, Sasuke," Naruto chuckled out, "I have to be at a gig at around six fifteen, so we should probably get started."

Sasuke nodded, seeming relieved. They got to work.


	6. Chapter 6

"It's six, Naruto. You have to go."

Naruto stopped pounding his head in with the equation in front of him, looking up at Sasuke who's bright phone screen illuminated the number six.

"Yeah, guess so." Naruto said, rubbing his eyes. He was honestly surprised Sasuke remembered his gig at all.

He quickly collected his stuff from the table, packing it disorderly into his bright orange backpack, and picked up his guitar. Sasuke walked him to the door.

"Hey," Naruto said, his face hitting the cool autumn air as his heel touched the hard wood of Sasuke's porch. "I think I passed that test. You know, the one we studied for in the library...?"

Sasuke nodded, shifting his weight into the doorframe.

"So, uh." Naruto continued, "Thanks. You might be a shitty person, but you're definitely not a shitty tutor."

Sasuke didn't smile, though from the glint in his eye, it seemed he was flattered despite the backhandedness of the compliment.

"Well I have to be, to teach a moron like you."

"Oh, screw you!" Naruto shouted, turning on his heel just as he heard Sasuke tsk with amusement. Though, Naruto hadn't entirely meant it to begin with.

He smiled all the way to the Uber cab waiting for him in the fountain clad driveway.

"What're you doing here?" Naruto asked the driver.

"Mr. Uchiha told me he had a guest who needed a ride. Is that you?"

Naruto was taken aback, and just as he turned toward where Sasuke was standing in the doorway only seconds before, there was an audible click and the door was shut.

"I guess so?" Naruto said, and hopped into the back seat of the cab. "You know where you're taking me?"

"Yup. Real party place, huh."

Naruto chuckled with him, happy to have a ride as the clock was quickly changing numbers and he needed to tune up. He rarely had performance anxiety, so it was difficult for him to play through it on the occasion he did. This walk would've been disastrous.

When they pulled up to the club, hipster college students were already gathered in the front, varsity jacket and timberland boot clad. There were an abundance of flannels, ponytails and many beer bottles.

"What do I owe you?" Naruto inquired, reaching into his pants for his wallet.

"Nothing man, your friend paid. Said he knew you'd pay him back."

Naruto stared, then grinned widely, something in his chest bubbled excitedly into his throat as he thanked the driver and paced to the door with his guitar and backpack barely weighing him down.

"Hey, right on time," Sakura said when Naruto walked in. "And you look great!"

He was soaring, so she was right. He didn't even know why he cared that the Uchiha trusted him, but for some reason Naruto felt like it was kind of a big deal.

"Session went well?" Hinata approached him, sporting some cool black and white striped jeans and a fishnet top. Very edgy, in his opinion.

"Yeah, surprisingly." He said, taking out his guitar. "You guys got all the amps in and everything?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, and Kiba's sister's friends with a couple guys on the college football team so they carried Kiba's kit in too."

Naruto rubbed his hands together, waving at Gaara as he passed by with his bass.

"How long do we have, man?"

Gaara raised an invisible brow.

"Are you worried?"

"Not anymore," Naruto said with his sly grin. "I just need to make sure I'm in tune, is all."

Gaara smiled and moved away to give Naruto the space he needed to tune, while someone went on stage to introduce them.

"Ready?" Kiba asked Hinata, putting a hand on her shoulder. Sometimes Naruto wondered if he liked her, but he doubted Kiba would confess, even if he asked.

"Yes." She said softly, stretching out her fingers, though Naruto doubted she needed to. It was probably a part of her performance anxiety; even Sakura got it when they first started playing together, but she gained a lot of confidence since then and between her and Naruto, the crowd could be worked no sweat.

Nobody could get more pumped than when Sakura and Naruto screeched their hearts out with their voices and guitars. Nobody could resist that kind of energy.

"We're on!" Naruto exclaimed, giddy with the performance high he so craved.

They ended up rocking some Three Days Grace, Evanescence, and Green Day. Three standard, modern rock bands that absolutely nobody could dislike. The drunk students loved it, and so did their discreet professors who managed to sneak in without being spotted. They finished the performance with an original that Gaara and Naruto wrote together, one of those nights that Gaara couldn't sleep and decided to keep Naruto up with him. The bastard.

But it was a turnout that they were both proud of, and apparently the crowd loved it. Though, it could've sucked and they would've gone mad anyway. The crowd was hammered.

"Nice solo, bro!" Naruto punched Gaara in the arm, and Gaara allowed himself a small smile.

"It was really badass." Sakura giggled, glancing at Naruto. "We need to get you one of those, Naruto. I'm getting tired of being the only front man."

Naruto nodded. "I do kinda miss having the full attention on me!"

Kiba snorted at that. "Yeah, we know."

They walked out together, riding their cathartic high and enjoying each others company in the late, chilly fall air.

"-and remember the time that Kiba thought he he could drink a fourth beer and we were all like ' _No! You'll get alcohol poisoning and die!'_ and then he only managed to get through half and puked his guts out-"

"-No I didn't! It wasn't that bad, just a little and that sketchy pizza place we stopped at is definitely the reason-"

"Nah man, you definitely puked, listen to Sakura!"

"N-naruto, your phone is going off."

Naruto stopped his bursting energy as the others continued to chatter with endless vibrancy, to view a text from Jiraiya that stopped him in his tracks.

 _hjey naruto ikm gonna need u 2 fet my wallet from the rtefridgeraor_

 _cause dis girl im wit can realllly drink and i need it._

Naruto sighed. He was drunk, and he blew his wallet on some girl who could drink more than him. That, or he lost it and there is no girl.

"Everything okay?"

Naruto couldn't even look at them. He didn't want to ruin all the fun they were having, but there was no way he could let his guardian stumble home on his own.

"Sorry guys, I have to get Jiraiya."

Sakura's face fell. He hated doing that to her.

"D-do you want us to go with you? It's a little dangerous to be alone at this hour." Hinata asked kindly.

"Nah," Naruto smiled widely, but fakely. "you guys have fun. Get me some cup ramen for lunch tomorrow, or something."

They nodded, continuing on their path home.

 _Do you know where you are?_

He texted Jiraiya, hoping he could extract some information on his whereabouts, though he suspected he was either at a strip club, in which case there was no way in hell Naruto would be able to extract him from it, or at his favorite bar.

 _you know, teh plavce_

He supposed that meant the bar, which was about two blocks south from the street he was on. It was a little sketchy down there, but not quite as bad as the club.

He passed allyways clad with smoking men, a woman in heels moving extremely quickly, (Naruto suspected it was because he was walking behind her, which was a fear well founded and made him feel terrible), and a group of men in low hanging jeans and silver chains around their necks.

"Yo, want some?" One of the men extended his fist, containing what Naruto suspected was some sort of drug. Naruto weighed his options; on one hand, he could keep walking, and either be left alone or anger them, on the other, he could risk approaching in which case he could either be handed the drugs and left alone or mugged.

He approached, figuring in the worst case scenario he was pretty darn loud and had a guitar to smack someone with.

They turned out to be as friendly as drug dealers could get, giving him a number and everything but the weed for free.

He pocketed the stuff and kept on his way, arriving at the pub in time to see the bar tender walk Jiraiya out of the building to abandon him on the sidewalk. He must've made a real ass out of himself.

"Narutooo," Jiraiya slurred with recognition, slinging his arm around his shoulders. "You should've seen her go! Quite the drinker, and quite the rack too!"

"Okay, Perv." Naruto said, knowing Jiraiya was too drunk to hear the anger lacing his voice. "But you've gotta go home now."

Jiraiya teetered on his heels, and for a second Naruto thought he'd fall. Instead, he lunged into Naruto's arms, which made Naruto's frown disappear. The guy was pretty unpredictable when drunk.

"Okie." Jiraiya said, and Naruto chuckled, slipping his arm beneath his guardian's shoulders to aid him on the long walk home.

It was getting late, past midnight, in fact. Naruto figured he'd just cut first period and nap a bit, but he still knew that the ringing of his alarm the next morning would surely induce a raging headache.

Jiraiya had been making gurgling sounds for a few minutes, but had yet to vomit. Naruto hoped dearly that he'd be able to hold out until they arrived at the house, so he could just dump him there and be done with him for the night.

...And, Naruto wouldn't exactly fancy being mugged. Getting home ASAP was his main priority.

"Hey, I can walk 'n my own, Naru..." Jiraiya slurred, whilst Naruto practically carried his tripping guardian.

"Yeah," Naruto replied bitterly, "sure you can."

But he surely hoped Jiraiya was correct, when his eyes landed upon a dark figure walking amongst the dark buildings. The silhouette was of a man, his hands buried in pockets of loose fitting jeans and the hoodie he sported had the strings drawn tight. Naruto concluded the man's face was shadowed by the hood, but as the figure drew closer, his steps slightly uneven but masked enough that it was unnoticeable from a distance, Naruto regarded a light billow of smoke escaping from the depths of the deep hood.

Each plodding footstep bore another soft thud of sneakers on sidewalk, and Naruto observed as the figure's head lifted to stare right back at him.

Naruto felt panic well up in his stomach. The man was nearing. He had to look after Jiraiya, and he was slowed down from running because of it. He was a mere few meters away, meandering carelessly toward him.

 _I'm gonna get mugged. Shit, who the hell walks that slowly at this hour? He's out for blood, he's gonna attack me and steal Jiraiya's money and possibly kill me. I've gotta hit him over the head with my guitar or something really crappy's gonna happen and holy shit he's looking at me-_

"Naruto?"

It wasn't a thug at all. The familiar voice belonged to none other than-

" _You smoke?!"_

-Sasuke.

He tsk'd, pulling off his hood and sparing both Naruto and his guardian a glance.

"What are you doing out so late?"

"Answer my question first!"

"Why should I? You have eyes, moron. So what the hell are you doing in this part of town so late?"

"Right back at you!"

Beside him, Jiraiya made a sound akin to a choking seal. Heat crept across Naruto's cheeks as Sasuke raised an inquisitive brow. He didn't question it, despite the intense shame on Naruto's face.

 _It 'd be so easy for him to pull some crap right now._

"Alright then," Sasuke shifted to his left leg, then shifted back to the right. "don't answer me. But don't expect me to explain myself either."

Naruto nodded, bashful for once. Sasuke thought it didn't suit him.

 _Please go away now, this is so mortifying._

Naruto adjusted himself beneath Jiraiya's large arm, the man dozing off in his grasp and slipping. Standing so still under Sasuke's overpowering eyes was becoming uncomfortable for Naruto, who still grasped his guitar in his left hand with the extreme weight of his guardian on his other shoulder.

"So, uh, I'm just gonna go now." Naruto took a step forward, just as the guitar in his left palm slipped into Sasuke's right.

His gaze shot up to meet Sasuke's, who simply shrugged and fell into step beside Naruto.

"You don't have to-"

"I'm on a walk anyway. You'll get mugged if you carry all that by yourself."

 _Ain't that the truth!_

They walked in relative silence, with the occasional hiccup from Jiraiya to fill the noiseless void. Naruto didn't find the silence oppressive as he normally did, but rather found the slow walk to be soothing. The sound of shoes on pavement had a rhythmic quality that set Naruto's heart into a slower pace, and the chilly air resting on his exposed face alongside the smell of cigarettes provided a comforting quality to the already quiet night. His initial disconcertment wafted into the crisp night air.

"But seriously, what are you doing out so late on a weeknight? And with a cigarette, nonetheless?"

"I thought we agreed on no questions." Sasuke replied.

"Okay, I get that, but I think my situation is a little bit more obvious than yours."

Sasuke chuckled.

"Maybe that was the point of the deal."

Naruto huffed. "C'mon, play fair for once!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's really not that important, Naruto. I'm out for a walk, and some guy handed this to me. Why does it matter so much?"

Naruto ignored the question. "You just took a cigarette some dude handed to you? I hardly believe that!"

"It's the truth. Whether or not you choose to believe it means nothing to me."

Once they arrived at the house, promptly dragging Jiraiya into the living-room-kitchen and plopping him on the couch, Naruto found himself facing Sasuke at two in the morning on a week day.

"Thanks for helping, I guess." Naruto scratched the back of his head, wondering what to do with Sasuke. Naruto lived on the South side of the city, one of the poorer neighborhoods in the area, but not necessarily the less safe one. Sasuke lived on the North East side, which wasn't exactly a short walk away, nor was it a safe one. It was certainly safer than where Sasuke found Naruto, he supposed, but Naruto worried that at this hour Sasuke's walk was extremely dangerous, especially for a lean high schooler like him.

"It's no problem. See you in a few hours."

Before Naruto could protest, Sasuke was out the door on the long trek home.

Naruto clonked out without changing his clothes. He was too exhausted from having to drag Jiraiya home intoxicated _yet again_ , on top of being mortified in front of his tutor. But, upon reflection, he realized they'd both been extremely civil about the whole situation: Sasuke didn't prod at the extremely obvious wound, but rather, helped Naruto carry it home.

Naruto considered texting Gaara about it, perhaps out of worry for his apparently-not-that-dickish-tutor, but opted against it. But seriously, he had to have a test tomorrow in _one_ of those many AP classes he was in, right? In which case, why wasn't he resting up for it? Or, at the very least, reviewing the information at such an ungodly hour?

It was profoundly unexpected, and Naruto found himself staying up chewing on the mysterious behavior that seemed so carelessly out of place to his definition of what Sasuke Uchiha was. He finally understood his many female classmates' enamoration with the treasure hidden within such an enigmatic puzzle.


	7. Chapter 7

There's an ache in his back. Dread bubbles in the pit of his stomach. He shuts the blaring noise off before problems arise. 6:15 am. As usual.

No stirring. Good. Quickly get out, get the jeans, get the oxfords and get a polo before problems arise.

There's no time. The many hours were not enough to dull the ache this time. No time. No winding down.

It's bad today. The beast stirs. Out. Out. Out.

There's no winding down. He has to scrub himself clean. It has to leave his skin.

Heat, locked door. Burn it off, cleaner. Scrub cleaner. Dry and go.

Dial the number later. No time for breakfast, there are footsteps. Grab the keys, walk to school.

Safe. But for how long?

* * *

Naruto woke up with a divided mood. On one hand, the after performance high kicked in a second time, and he grinned like a maniac recalling the sheer heat radiating off of the jumping, drinking, crazy audience when Sakura wailed that last note and his guitar screeched out that final chord. All the sweat, the roar of the audience as they exited out of the wings of the heavily packed bar's stage.

But, then the frustration at Jiraiya kicked in, each event stringing into the next and eventually leading him to his terrifying walk with his drunken guardian in the dangerous town at night. He had every reason to be infuriated at him for putting him in a situation where he was alone, and where something potentially horrible could've went wrong.

Plus, he exposed a part of himself in front of someone he convinced himself he hated. His tutor not only knew he was poor as shit now, but now he knew his guardian was a halfway functioning alcoholic. Were Naruto anyone else, he wouldn't have known how to face Sasuke the next day.

Naruto yanked on a plain, long sleeved orange shirt, and put a white Led Zeppelin teeshirt over it. He pulled on fitted joggers and Timberland boots. There was no need to be edgy, since the band had no performance or parties to go to.

Descending the stairs, he vowed to handle his guardian maturely. It was the only way to show him how immature he was behaving, right?

"Hey kid, what's good?" Jiraiya asked from the stove, where the thick smell of pancake batter wafted into the dewy morning air. It seemed a window was open somewhere, because the house was far fresher than the tight dankness of the night before.

"I'm not doing too great, to be honest." Naruto said. _Good, Naruto, that's a good start. Open and mature._

"Oh?" Jiraiya flipped the forming pancake, sprinkling some powdered sugar onto the now cooked side. "Why's that?"

From behind him, Naruto's eyes narrowed, his arms crossing. "Gee, I wonder why."

 _That's not mat-_

Jiraiya placed the doughy substance in front of him, pulling some maple syrup out of the fridge and pouring him a cup of orange juice. Naruto took them gingerly, cutting into the sweet food and popping it into his eager mouth.

"Did your tutor give you a hard time again?"

Naruto dropped his silverware. The metal hit the porcelain of the plate, and the tense silence following sharp clang was thick with unresolved tension.

"No." Naruto clipped sharply. "In fact, he is far from being the difficult one."

All patience was drained. Months of pent up frustration was threatening to spill from the seams of his carefully placed strings of control.

"Excuse me?" Jiraiya raised an inquisitive brow. "If you want help, just-"

"Alright! Yeah, I'll just ask for help, right? Because that's what guardians are for! There for _helping_ , not creating problems, because they're supposed to be the _responsible_ ones, right?! They're not supposed to be the ones drunk texting their kids in the middle of the night because they're in the bad part of town and can't get home! That's not what _parents_ are-"

His voice cracked, and the stunned look on Jiraiya's face almost halted the words Naruto knew he'd regret in just a few moments.

" _Parents._ That's what I want! Not whatever the fuck kind of guardian you're pretending to be!"

He looked Jiraiya dead in the eye. Any shock had been replaced with impending tears.

The sight of them enraged Naruto even further. How dare he make _him_ feel guilty for saying the truth, after all of this time of feeling neglected.

He bared his teeth, his peripheral vision picking up on the stack of askew papers on the corner of the counter. Another failed novel. Another ingenious idea abandoned for chicks and drinks.

Out of sheer anger and burning eyes, Naruto swept his arm across the entire counter, flinging his breakfast and the papers onto the kitchen floor, shattering the dish and splashing glass and orange juice over the scattered splay of papers.

It had been done without thinking, and immediately, he felt remorse. The stunned silence that followed was louder than any of the raw beats of Kiba's drums the night before. And through the silence sliced Jiraiya's strained voice.

"Get out."

With bitter moisture in his eyes, Naruto slung his bag over his shoulder and sped out of the house.

* * *

By the time fifth period rolled around, Naruto's mood went from anger, to guilt, to numbed. He couldn't smile, and fought to even remember his frustration from earlier that day.

So when he finally met with Gaara in "the room", there was no way for him to mask his out of character behavior. Gaara said nothing, but sat beside him and plucked away at his bass while Naruto shut his eyes, allowing his worries to dissipate as the ambient tones drifted into and out of his eardrums.

"You gonna tell me?" It was more of a statement than a question. The notes didn't cease, despite Gaara's shifted attention.

Naruto sighed. "I don't know if talking will help much."

This time Gaara simply nodded, but fell into silence. Naruto glanced at his motionless fingers, calloused from the frequent playing.

"...What?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing. But if you want some relief, I've got a guy."

Naruto couldn't resist the grin that swept across his face.

"You know I'd like that."

When ninth period rolled around, Gaara led Naruto outside of the school, into the crisp October air. Naruto couldn't believe how fast the year was coming and going. They stepped over the lopsided barbed fence boarding off the bleachers from the sidewalk, the fabric of his sweatpants catching on a loose wire as his gaze landed on a young man with grey hair and over sized glasses. Gaara waved at him in familiarity, and the man waved back.

"What'll it be, boys?" He asked in a deep, yet somewhat nasal voice.

"Got any pot, Kabuto?" Gaara asked, but not moving to get out any cash. Naruto wondered how often he bought the stuff, considering his economically unstable situation.

But to his surprise, the man- Kabuto- pulled some out of nowhere and placed it in Gaara's hand without accepting payment.

"What?" Naruto asked, "Why are you giving it to us for free?"

Kabuto smiled. It was eerie, in Naruto's opinion. "What, you want to pay?"

Gaara shot him a look that would've made a child cry. Naruto could only snicker and wave his hands around like a fool.

"No! No, I mean its just kinda a surprise, you know? Like, why?"

Kabuto laughed. It was somewhat relaxing. "See, Gaara has this hot sister? And the better Gaara thinks of me, the more likely it is that she's gonna want some of the D, you get me?"

Naruto certainly got him. He glared at Gaara, who looked back at him sheepishly.

"Thanks for getting me in trouble, man." Gaara said sarcastically. Kabuto raised his palms in surrender.

They pivoted, waving, as they made their way out from under the bleachers.

"Let me know if you've got any potential buyers, alright?"

Gaara didn't nod, but Naruto suspected he would let him know. He turned, a distant thought suddenly creeping its way out of his throat.

"Do you, uh. Did you sell cigarettes to Sasuke Uchiha, by any chance?" Naruto asked, not really understanding why he even bothered.

Kabuto cocked an incredibly white brow. "He smokes? Who the Hell knew!"

Naruto wondered if that was information others were allowed to know, suddenly feeling self conscious.

"I was just wondering if you did, 'cause it was kinda weird and he said some random dude just handed it to him."

Kabuto chuckled. "Sounds like a lie to me. Why do you even care? I thought your whole friend group hated that guy anyway."

"Whatever, man." Naruto scoffed.

"Listen man, it'd do you some good to not worry so much. Just take a hit or two and calm down."

That was exactly what they did. Gaara pocketed the weed and led Naruto back to the room, neither of them concerned about being caught with drugs in the school. After all, baggy pants had deep pockets.

* * *

They were high in mere minutes, puffs of smoke drifting throughout the glaringly bright room as Naruto's eyelids fell into one another. Gaara's porcelain skin met Naruto's sun kissed hand, the warm exchange awaking Naruto from the dull ringing in his mind. He blinked rapidly at the scratchy baritone coming from between Gaara's lips. He vaguely recognized the words, his slow mind catching up at least three steps behind Gaara.

"I...what?" Gaara's tongue flicked over his parted lips in amusement.

"I asked you when your supposed to meet your tutor."

Naruto's lazy eyes snapped open. "Dude. Today sucks."

Gaara's head lolled to the side. Perhaps he was trying to nod. Naruto stood carefully, vaguely wondering if his weight all decided to chill in his left leg as he attempted to stumble to the door. Gaara tipped over, laying face-down on the shitty couch.

"You okay man?" Naruto slurred. Gaara groaned.

"Yeah. Just...My phone's making noises and I can't remember my password."

Naruto hummed, entangling his finger in the strings on his sweat pants. He suddenly couldn't feel his trousers, and figured he better tighten them flush against his skin to be sure they were secure. "It's probably 'fuck you' or some shit."

Gaara nodded, the phone unlocking. "It's Kiba."

"Your passcode? That's weird man."

"No," Gaara corrected slowly, "he's texting me. 'says his parents are goin' away this weekend. Throwing a party tonight."

"Nice." Naruto said, making his way out the door. "Don't get caught."

Gaara tried to raise a non-existent brow. "Where you going?"

"Sasuke's. Gotta do math."

Gaara simply took another puff. "Sad life."

Though the bus was technically not crowded, Naruto's slow working mind and tunnel vision made it intensely difficult to find an empty seat. Why were all these kids wearing black? Did they want to blend in with the leather seats? Naruto was unsure, but luckily, he managed to sit in the middle of the bus in an unoccupied seat, although its proximity to the rather large boy beside him made him feel clusterphobic even though he was alone.

The movement of the bus left a fat, jumping rabbit in his abdomen. Naruto's stupid grin remained plastered on his face, though his stomach was doing flips and he was unsure whether or not he'd hurl. Bland colors streaked his eyes, flashing through the window as his dialated pupals attempted to catch up to the fast movements of the leaping buildings outside of the vehicle. So by the time the bleeding colors swirled into a comprehensable image, Naruto realized that for the first time, he was relieved to finally be at Sasuke's abode.

"Thanks," he muttered at the driver. Something inside of him compelled him to add, "it's not my house, just so you know."

The driver nodded, whether or not it was from actual comprehension or to get Naruto off the bus already, Naruto wasn't sure. He managed to walk in a straight line all the way to Sasuke's doorstep, upon which he hit the wood three times with his palm and groaned out a long " _Sasukeeeee."_

He hit the door several more times, continuing to groan and claw at it while a series of thumps came from the inside. Naruto imagined Sasuke riding a bike up and down the stairs, and giggled as he leaned into the doorframe.

It dove from beneath him, sending him straight into Sasuke.

"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed, his voice cracking. His vision watered over with the sheer force of the hit, so he rubbed his eyes fervently.

"You're late."

 _What a voice!_ Naruto thought to himself.

"Yeah, I am."

There was a pregnant pause.

"You smell bad." Sasuke stated, his voice similar to a conductor guiding an immature pianist, pudgy fingers plodding along the keys monotonously.

Naurto slowly realized that Sasuke smelled the weed he smoked.

"Oh."

He was gonna be kicked out. Sasuke would call the school, get him expelled, and Jiraiya would be infuriated even further.

"Uh," Naruto attempted, looking at the sheer display of class embedded in the home before him, begging to be acknowledged, "is this inappropriate?"

"Extremely. Get inside, you're letting all the cold air in."

Naruto meandered into the expansive space, barely managing to trail Sasuke's path into the kitchen. His company placed a tentative hand on his upper back and rushed him into a stool by the marble counter.

"You're not gonna call Jiraiya, are ya?" Naruto asked slowly, to which Sasuke shook his head, making his way to the sink.

"No clue who that is, but if you mean to ask if I'm planning on getting you in trouble because of this, the answer's no."

Naruto smiled. A lopsided, overdone smile that made him look like a drooling Boxer getting its temperature taken.

"You're so nice, Sasuke."

Sasuke turned on the faucet, and Naruto's eyeballs lolled down to where the other teen's hands stroked each other. The skin above his knuckles was taut, like a spiderweb covering thin glass. The fingers were long and bony, the palms wide and...red. Perhaps he split a nail, for the water guided the blood into the drain below, leaving ebony behind.

"Not quite the word I'd use." A flick of the wrist and the healing waterfall evaporated. "Care to explain what you're doing in my house like that?"

"Oh, like, stoned?" Naruto giggled.

"Yes. 'Like stoned', as you so eloquently put it."

Now he just grinned, believing he found a giant loophole, "You shouldn't be asking so many questions, Sasuke, considering your _'Silence of the Cigs'_ last night."

He laughed at his own joke. Sasuke didn't look nearly as amused, but he still didn't appear to be as angry as Naruto anticipated. Naruto supposed he wanted to see what it took to get him there.

"Notwithstanding the difference in the substances we inhaled, I was minding my own business last night. You showed up at my house and are taking away my own time, not to mention carrying that odor into the building in which I sleep. These are two completely different situations, Naruto."

"Aw, c'mon, Sasuke! I wanna know what the Valedictorian-to-be was doing with cigarettes in the middle of the night! Tell me and I'll tell you?"

Sasuke frowned. "Is it really that interesting to all of you?"

Naruto wasn't sure why he said 'all of you', but couldn't think straight enough to figure it out.

"Yep! I'll tell you if you tell me!" he repeated.

Sasuke sighed. "You're paper thin, Uzumaki. You got stoned because your father was intoxicated and you're unsure how to handle the stress associated with a parental figure that doesn't provide guidance."

They shared a steady glance for what felt like ten seconds, but with Naruto's lagging mind was probably less.

"I take it back."

Sasuke chuckled. It was low and as smooth as the Canadian maple syrup that Naruto shattered on the kitchen floor that morning.

"Maybe I'll tell you. But you have to give me something, first."

Naruto raised his lolling head. "Whattaya want?"

Sasuke strode over to him, leaning across the counter until he was popping Naruto's personal bubble. His hair smelt like forsythia and his eyes shone as bright as a damp summer's night. Naruto felt heat creep across his skin.

"A hit."


	8. Chapter 8

Naruto couldn't believe this was happening.

He thought it was a stupid joke. His tutor - his responsible, annoyingly sharp, prospected valedictorian tutor - sharing a hit with him. It was impossible. It was a terrible, wrong, impossible idea considering how much Sasuke had to lose if he was caught. But he'd taken it like a champ, though Naruto had to admit that even in his state he'd been concerned his tutor wouldn't be able to handle it. In the end, Sasuke took quite a few puffs, and one call from Kiba later, there they were: At an unknown address, drunk and high, and surrounded by sorority girls.

Naruto could hardly breathe. The room was a fast heartbeat, the strobes were flickering stars and the heat was unbearable. Still, there he was, spinning, moving because he couldn't stop with all the uncontrolled energy around him. He couldn't even focus on the incredibly attractive brunette in front of him, or the one behind him, because he was sweating out the alcohol and could almost start to get worried about the fact he had no idea where Sasuke went.

How the Hell did he even get here?

 _Are you sure?_

 _Do I look unsure?_

 _Well, no, but... Won't this ruin your reputation or somethin'?_

 _I don't care about that._

 _Who is calling you?_

 _Kiba, hey...where's the party... I don't know where that is..._

 _What street? 44th? I know where that is._

 _Wait... what? You wanna go to a party?_

 _Hurry up, I don't wanna get lost._

 _How can you even tell where you are when you're that high?_

 _I'm used to walking around here._

 _Uh, Sasuke? Are you sure about this?_

 _Yes, we're over twenty one._

 _Sasuke, I don't know if you realize what this is gonna be like.._

 _When are you going to calm down?_

 _Wait-!_

Naruto peeked over the crowd, but all of the shapes were moving quicker than his retina could, and the colors blended into one so he couldn't distinguish one body from the next.

"'S'cuse me."

He wiggled his way through the perspiring bodies, past the frat boys disgustingly rubbing themselves on unsuspecting girls. Naruto felt sick to his stomach; he'd been to crazy parties, but Kiba was right about this one. It was out of control, and not in a way he enjoyed.

"Naruto!" Shouted a familiar voice.

"Kiba?"

"Yeah man! This party's a rager, right? Hey, what the Hell?"

"Whattaya mean 'what the Hell?'"

"Your hammered _and_ high?! Dude that's dangerous!"

Kiba's voice was thrumming in Naruto's brain, shaking it the way the heavy bass of the music was shaking the various kegs along the counter. He made his way over to the nearest wall, leaned on it as a wave of nausea washed over him.

"You alright man?"

He slowed his breath, overcoming the need to vomit with experience.

"Yeah, 'm okay, Kibs. But I got a problem 'cause I didn't come here alone."

Kiba's eyes were trained on a woman in fishnets giving him a side glance. Naruto smacked his shoulder.

"Look man, I'm sure Gaara knows how to handle himself. It wouldn't be the first time we lost him in a place like this."

"But-"

Naruto's head spun again. He felt like a bus hit him then backed over his disfigured body to make sure he was really dead. Except he wasn't dead so the dude got out of the bus, took out a shovel, and bludgeoned him until his stomach came out of his throat and his brain came out of his ears.

Huh.

The problem was, if he was this bad, considering his experience with substances (though more responsibally than tonight- this was a mistake he'd never make again), he couldn't begin to imagine how bad Sasuke was.

 _This is bad. I let him do this, I showed up to his house all screwed up, gave him pot, and let him come here knowing it was a mistake. What if he shows up dead somewhere? I let him mix pot with alcohol, why did I agree to this._

"DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!"

His head was thumping again, but he forced himself to turn around as the frat boys shoved alcohol down each other's throats. Apparently another keg was dragged into the already drenched room.

"Hey."

Naruto whipped around, the room spinning with him, only to lay his eyes on Sasuke.

"Sasuke! Where the Hell did you go?"

"Where do you think? Into the party."

Naruto suddenly felt self conscious. Sasuke seemed perfectly fine, almost like he wasn't dizzy at all. Meanwhile, Naruto was vomiting internally and was extremely uncomfortable with the cluster of people invading his personal space. It seemed like they'd switched roles, but in a terrible way.

"Uh, okay," Naruto scratched his head, "Well I'm just gonna go back to drinking then 'cause this party's sick."

He sure hoped he sounded convincing, but was sure his voice betrayed him.

"Well, actually I was wondering if we could leave now."

 _Wait... we?_

"Uh, yeah, definitely."

 _Thank GOD._

* * *

"So, where are we going?" Naruto asked. Shortly after they left the oppressively hot party, instead taking refuge in the open, chilly autumn air, Naruto found that Sasuke had no intention of calling an Uber. Instead, Naruto followed Sasuke without a clue as to where they were headed.

Sasuke stopped, wandering eyes focusing in on Naruto's, eyebrows drawn together.

"I don't really remember..."

Naruto snorted. It seemed Sasuke wasn't completely unaffected by the alcohol and dope, and it was certainly strange to see the boy who seemingly remembered everything fail to recall where he was heading.

"How about your place? It's pretty huge."

The thing was, Naruto wasn't even sure why he was following Sasuke, or even if he was supposed to. It wasn't like they signed up to hang out with each other, but he found that Sasuke didn't protest his presence, so he simply continued.

"What time is it?"

"It's one am, man. Are you feeling alright?"

"Then we can't go back to my house tonight. Your place?"

"Uh, sure?"

He doubted Jiraiya would be home, and he was right. When they entered, Naruto found that the plate and glasses he threw to the floor that morning were gone. There was a fresh scar on the floor from where the dishes impacted it, and _Mr Clean_ sat on the counter.

The fight came flooding back to him. He couldn't contain the built up frustration anymore. He couldn't help but feel neglected, coming home each day to an empty home and waking up in a still empty one.

Regardless, he couldn't argue with the convenience of having anyone over at practically any hour, especially on a Friday night. Naruto didn't anticipate Jiraiya returning at all that night.

"Have any more?"

He turned to Sasuke, who was already comfortable on his torn living room couch.

"What, dope? Nah, man. I don't even think I could _do_ anymore, I mean I'm still surprised we even found our way home."

Sasuke's head lolled in what Naruto assumed to be a nod of agreement. Naruto sat beside him, finding that although not familiar with his guest, he didn't feel entirely uncomfortable.

He turned to Sasuke: his eyes were shut, and his head was tilted back, exposing his smooth, porcelain skin. His prominent jaw line and slanted nose, his full lips and angular brows made him appear sensual in the moonlight filtering in from the window.

He supposed he'd always known Sasuke was attractive, but never really studied the parts of him that made him so.

When Sasuke's eyes opened and he turned his head toward Naruto, their noses just centimeters apart and their body heat mingling, Naruto's breath became a suck of air. His heart sped up. But looking into Sasuke's unsteady, blown pupils, he reminded himself that the guy really had no clue what he was doing.

"You've got really blue eyes."

"...yeah."

"Kinda like the ocean or something..."

Naruto let out a laugh, easing the mood once again.

"You're hammered, man."

"Hm..."

He turned away once again, and a thought occurred to Naruto.

"Where did you actually get that cigarette from last night?"

Sasuke groaned.

"Why do you keep asking me that?"

"Because I'm curious! I never would've guessed someone like you would do that kinda thing."

"...someone like me?"

Naruto blushed, realizing his mistake.

"Uh, yeah. Like... you."

Sasuke was quiet.

"Am I...different from the people at that party?"

"Well, no," Naruto replied, tripping over himself, "I mean they all go to our high school it's just that you seem..."

"Egotistical? Patronizing? Unsocial? Like a prick?"

The words stuck like a knife in Naruto's throat. He couldn't believe Sasuke knew what people said about him, but even worse, that Naruto himself recalled saying those same things: sometimes over text, sometimes as an angry whisper to himself, and sometimes a frustrated scream to his friends. But interestingly enough, the Sasuke who sat beside him that night didn't seem like that at all.

"...I was gonna say responsible."

Sasuke shook his head as if to say, _of course you were._

"Look, the truth is I was walking around in a dangerous part of town at two in the morning and a guy handed me a cigarette. So I smoked it."

"Huh."

"Yeah."

Naruto scratched the back of his head hesitantly, hoping he wouldn't drive Sasuke back into his usual secrecy with the next question.

"But why did you smoke it?"

"I didn't really know what else to do with it."

"...throw it out?"

"Why are you so stuck on this?"

"Probably because it's so unexpected."

A comfortable silence followed.

"So what about you?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't smoke."

"No. How much do you drink?"

"Like, beers? Eh, once a week maybe. I don't really get drunk like tonight, though, I just kinda enjoy it."

Sasuke nodded. Naruto sighed.

"If this is about that tutoring session, I'll have you know that most of those cans were my friends' and I really wasn't even tipsy."

"Oh. I thought those were your dad's after last night."

Naruto choked on his next words. He was hoping Sasuke was too drunk to bring that subject up, as it was still a fresh, burning wound from the previous night.

"...no, those weren't my dad's. My parents died before I was born."

Naruto looked at his hands, almost in shame. Sasuke eyed him warily, but didn't seem to patronize him. There was a hint of understanding in his charcoal orbs.

"Do you mind if I ask how?"

"I never found out. Never met them. I searched in the records for answers for years, but nothing ever came up except their names: Minato and Kushina."

There was a pregnant pause. Naruto prayed Sasuke would fill the silence, but when he didn't, Naruto simply filled it himself with what he was sure Sasuke was inkling to ask.

"I'm sure you noticed that Jiraiya - uh, my step dad - drinks a ton. He's not a bad guy, he's just not... I don't know, the most qualified parent?"

"You don't want to talk about this, do you."

"God no."

"So then shut up, idiot."

Naruto grinned.

"You use idiot so affectionately."

"You wish."

Naruto laughed. He laughed genuinely at class valedictorian, egotistical and apparently not that responsible Sasuke Uchiha.

"I just have one more question about... Jiraiya."

Naruto looked at him. His words seemed to have an air of hesitancy.

"Shoot."

"He doesn't... hurt you, does he?"

Naruto wasn't expecting that.

"Like, emotionally? Yeah, it kills me to read the first few pages of his latest novel and just see him scrap it in the garbage the next day. He's a genius writer, but he's an addict too. It's just a matter of one side of him fighting the other, and the addict tends to win, so now he hasn't been published in two years."

Naruto sighed. Sasuke's eyes were still trained on him, but unexpectedly, there wasn't even a hint of judgement in them.

"Sorry for ranting. I just wish he could go back to the way he was when I was first adopted."

It was surprisingly easy to speak to him: as though Sasuke was a blank slate, uninformed of any of Naruto's troubles and thus unopinionated about them.

"...it's fine."

Naruto stood up to retrieve ramen from the fridge. Although approaching two am, the time was still right for a midnight snack of salty goodness.

"That shit's gonna kill you one day."

"Ha! Ramen loves me, asshole."

He popped open the lid, and recalled his visit to Sasuke's house: the abundance of food, but more importantly, that Sasuke offered it to him.

A blush crept across his face when he realized that both times his guest was over, he never made the same offer. He felt...classless. Like he matched the state of his house. He didn't want to match his home; he didn't want Sasuke to think he was worth so little.

"Do you want some?"

Sasuke looked at him. If he picked up on the nervous change, he didn't mention it, thankfully.

"I don't eat crap like that at this hour, thank you."

"So what do you do at this hour?"

"Talk to morons, apparently."

"Two nights, going strong!"

He sat down again, stirring the noodles and inhaling the warm scent.

"Hey. Why do you work out so hard?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Stress relief, I guess."

"You seem completely calm, like, at all times."

"School doesn't really bother me."

Naruto scoffed. "So it all comes easy? Like, you go on walks at two am no sweat cause you'll do well anyway?"

Sasuke glared.

"You know, you piss me off sometimes."

"I piss YOU off? Do you have any idea how good you've got it?"

"You're blindly jealous of me and you assume the worst because you want to find an excuse not to like me."

"You're the pretentious prick who doesn't acknowledge what he-"

"You feel small so you try to shrink everyone else's accomplishments-"

"has! You and all these other rich people work half as much as I do and get more!"

"-to feel bigger. You're just like-"

"It's not fair!"

"Everyone else."

Naruto took a breath. He ran Sasuke's words through his mind. He wasn't exactly wrong, but it was true that Naruto could work equally as hard as Sasuke and get half the reward.

He wondered if Sasuke would leave. It seemed the progress they'd accomplished was slipping away slowly.

"Listen, Sasuke, I'm sorry. I'm just... frustrated is all. I like who I am. I struggled to get this far, but whenever I'm around you, somehow I feel... inadequate."

Sasuke nodded: paused. They breathed, letting the climax dissipate.

"I don't want to make anyone feel inadequate. And honestly, you're better off staying how you are."

Naruto stared.

"Why's that?"

Sasuke rubbed his palms together, as if to gather courage, or fight an erge to shrink back into that reclusive, but safe shell.

"You're right that a lot of things come naturally. But you're wrong saying that I don't work hard. I work extremely hard to maintain my grades. And, just as how you feel inadequate around me, I feel inadequate around someone, too."

Naruto watched him.

"Is that why you work so hard? To feel adequate?"

"It's part of it, yeah."

Naruto shifted closer, genuinely curious.

"What's the other part?"

Sasuke gave him a wary gaze, untrusting.

"I don't want to talk about this."

"No, please! I'll tell you anything you wanna know."

Reluctantly, Sasuke said, "I'm afraid."

"Afraid? Of what?"

Sasuke breathed deeply, shut his eyes tight.

"Of going nowhere."

* * *

 _a/N: hey guys! Thanks for stopping by to read my little story._

 _Like it? Hate it? Want updates faster? Drop a review to make my day!_


	9. Chapter 9

He was afraid of going nowhere, which was to say, he was afraid of staying here.

* * *

Naruto hesitated.

The moment was too intense to address directly. Sasuke, the most likely in their whole graduating class to be successful, felt trapped. He worked for an escape. Someone - perhaps that brother of his? - made him feel like less than he was. And he was afraid of staying that way.

"What's the date today?"

"Man are you smoked, Sasuke."

The scary part was that Sasuke was absolutely hammered, and avoided the subject to keep from revealing too much. Naruto, by contrast, dove right into his discomforts without holding back.

"Seriously though."

"It's November second. You should, like, never drink."

Sasuke's head lolled, and his unfocused eyes met Naruto's again.

"Hn... I think I better go home... any later and I'll get my ass kicked."

Naruto chuckled.

"There's no way I'm letting you go home like that, Sasuke. Stay a while longer, get a cab."

Sasuke paused, then typed a message on his iphone.

"Juugo and Karin are going to get me."

"Actually? They must be nice friends."

Sasuke cocked a brow.

"They're not friends. Their parents work for mine so they do me favors whenever I ask."

Naruto snorted.

"I bet Karin has done you a different kind of favor before."

"Like what?"

"Like, blown you?"

Sasuke grimaced.

"Why are you so immature?"

"So she did!"

"Absolutely not."

"You're such a prude!"

"So not being a pervert makes me a prude?"

"You're a virgin, aren't you!"

Sasuke choked on his words.

"Think whatever you want."

The hurt in his voice made Naruto pause. Naruto was aware that many guys were sensitive about never having sex. He was hoping to take a jab at Sasuke's inflated ego just for kicks, but not to offend him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm actually a virgin, so, uh..."

Naruto blushed at his confession, while Sasuke's expression didn't change.

"Wow, I'm drunk..." Naruto filled in the awkward silence.

"You are."

Naruto grinned sloppily.

"And I'm not a virgin, stupid."

"What?! Who's the lucky girl? Or guy. I don't know what you're into."

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably. Deep inside, Naruto hoped it wasn't because of the prospect of being gay.

"Can you just mind your own business?"

"When was it? Last year? At a club meeting? Group project? Prom night?"

"Jesus..."

"I wanna know!"

"Look it was a while ago okay? Can you stop bugging me now?"

Naruto giggled to hide the confusing jealousy bubbling in his gut.

"I really gotta go. It's my parents' anniversary."

"Oh, is your brother coming home for it?"

Sasuke's frown deepened.

"No. He's in England. Goes to Cambridge University."

Naruto gaped, impressed. Sasuke's family was pretty cool.

"What are you gonna get your parents?"

Sasuke rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand.

"Flowers. My time."

A car pulled into the driveway.

"Oh, there's your ride."

Sasuke nodded, grabbing his coat. For some reason, worry caught Naruto around the heart.

"Listen, Sasuke-"

"Thanks for taking me to the party. And for having me here."

"Uh... yeah."

Sasuke turned to leave.

"Sasuke?"

"Hn."

"I just wanted to let you know... I'm happy you're not the person I thought you were."

With that, he left.

 _But be careful._

* * *

Bodies rolling, lips on lips, heat. Pressing firm at the edge of his sweat pants, it felt its partner pressed against khakis.

Hands roamed triceps, biceps, abs, hip bones. Hands grabbed soft flesh, hands pumped hard flesh, moisture on lips and chest.

He poised his body flush against his partner's. There were no breasts, no soft hips and plush lips. There were hard muscles and rippling abs.

"Hurry up, idiot..."

 _Ring! Ring! Ring!_

Sultry cobalt eyes peered up. Moist lips parted.

"Stop that, I need you."

Flesh still hot and moist. Hands released.

"Shit, I gotta get this one."

* * *

 _Ring! Ring! Ring!_

Naruto groaned and rolled over. It was sinful to call someone on a Saturday morning.

 _Ring! Ring! Ring!_

Naruto slapped his hand against the nightstand, about to shut the damn thing up until he realized it was Kiba.

"Fuck, what do you want?!"

"You got your tutor high?!"

Despite the roaring headache and his churning stomach, Naruto felt a chuckle rise through his throat.

"Yeah man, pretty sick, huh!"

"Dude, how did you convince him to do that crap? Isn't he like, our prospected president or some shit?"

"He actually asked me for the plant."

Kiba laughed his ass off across the line.

"Dude, I can't even believe this! Our valedictorian! Your asshole tutor! I thought you were trying to mess him up or somethin' twisted like that."

Naruto didn't like the sound of that. He hoped his friends didn't think he resented Sasuke enough to try and ruin his bright future. But dipping into his history, Naruto realized he'd said many hateful things about his now-tutor. He'd expressed anger at his opulence, disdain towards virtually everyone he met, grades and apparent luck.

He supposed he had some things to clear up with his friends.

"Kiba, I hate to say it but...he's actually not that bad."

Kiba was silent for a beat.

"Wow, you must be super hungover. I'm gonna pretend you never said that."

"But-"

"Anyway, I called you to let you know that we have a gig tonight. I also wanna talk to you about something soon, so let's meet at Starbucks in an hour."

"But that means I gotta get up!"

"Miracle."

The line went dead. Naruto groaned again, flopping into the cozy comforter and resenting that he had to move.

Maybe he'd get up in a few minutes.

* * *

 _I don't tutor on Saturdays bc I'm busy._

 _Also, thanks for warning me about how_

 _shitty that weed of yours_

 _makes hangovers._

* * *

Where were his feet returning him to, when his Vans stroked the sidewalk and the falling white tulip petals moistened the soles of his shoes? Head low, eyes turned down in the mid morning sun, the heat was absorbed by his black collared shirt but deflected from the moist, porcelain skin of his cheeks. A man with coffee knocked shoulders with him, but did not apologize. Children laughed with melting ice cream and loose blue jeans, but the liveliness of the city air was dampened by his silence.

His lungs did not push breath through his teeth, his tongue did not click in his mouth and his eyes did not meet with those of others. Charcoal eyes met a distant fire. Policemen returned to their vehicles, water returned to its saturated hoses, and firemen back-petaled out of their suits. Shards of crimson glass returned to a car that backed away from a bus. Crimson returned to soft pink flesh, which stitched itself back together. Rolled back eyes returned to focus, and spots of water returned to the eyes of a boy whose heart slowed down. A scream found its way into a woman's throat, a shutting mouth, a teenager released the brake, and the radio turned itself on. The little boy swallowed laughter.

The car sped up backward, but not fast enough for the darkly clothed man to shrink back into the blue child seat of a black minivan. Not fast enough for his voice to jump an octave and chatter himself into loving once again.

His back was straining against the weight of the life he almost led.

But he saw a flicker of light in a perpetually dark world: he stood impatiently in a line at the local Starbucks, his hands and mouth moving so enthusiastically that he could almost see bumblebees working hurriedly beneath his skin.

What possessed the boy to make his way into the coffee shop, he wasn't sure: He knew it was a bad idea, that it would surely lead to confrontation. Perhaps he was incapable of thinking straight with the buzzing between his ears. Perhaps, he needed to feel powerful once again. Perhaps anger was a mask for his sorrow.

Or maybe he was just thirsty.

* * *

Naruto threw on his Keds and flushed at the unexpected text: Sasuke. When did he get his number? Perhaps it was some time during the night when he was out of control, but still the fact of it unsettled him.

(He was unsure why it made him blush.)

But _damn_ what a time for Kiba to interrupt him! Naruto knew he had pent up sexual frustration, but he didn't realize it was so bad that he'd dream about a man. In fact, some features of the man whom he dreamt were surprisingly similar to Sasuke's.

He stopped that thought before it went somewhere uncomfortable.

Upon reaching 5th street, Naruto spotted a boy with chocolate hair and a vanilla pooch. He jogged to catch up to him.

"Kiba! What the hell did you wake me up at the crack of dawn for?!"

"Hey man. Nice to know you're as lightweight as ever."

Naruto frowned and crossed his arms jokingly. They entered the Starbucks, which was across from a church and on the corner of two sunny streets sparsely populated with men in suits and giggling teenagers with iced teas.

"Whatever, man."

The duo stood behind a woman talking loudly on her cell phone...and about forty other people.

"Damn, these lines are always so long."

Naruto bounced on his heels impatiently, excited for a mocha frappe. It was a hot day for mid October - perhaps 70 degrees - and Naruto was sweating under his long sleeves.

"So what did you want to say to me?"

"Well first," Kiba sighed, "I wanna rehearse with you today because you missed a few practices and we're playing tonight."

Naruto nodded. He loved playing with Kiba, or anyone in the band, frankly.

"Where are we playing tonight?"

"This is what I was gonna talk to you about. You don't even know what we're doing?"

Naruto furrowed his brows.

"Dude, I missed like three days and now you think I don't know what's up?"

"We're playing in a theater barn tonight. Should be people of all ages, and the stage has great acoustics so we don't need crazy speakers or anything like that."

Naruto nodded.

"I'll bring the amp Jiraiya got me then."

"Yeah, but look: I talked with Sakura about this. We're happy that you're getting your shit together, but we don't want every week to be like this one. You can't just rehearse on the weekends, you know this."

"I know, but I can't afford to fail math. You know all I ever wanna do is play with you guys, but I have to do this. It doesn't mean I'm not committed."

Kiba frowned. "Alright, you can do your tutoring and shit, but you gotta find time for us too."

"Don't forget that I helped form this band. And I expanded it, even though you didn't want to. AND I find, like, half of our concert venues. So don't make it sound like I'm not committed just cause I had to get tutored three times."

That shut him up for the time being. Naruto didn't want to get into a fight with Kiba, but sometimes the guy just pushed his buttons. He acted like he was in charge of the band, when all of them worked equally as hard. Naruto wasn't trying to take credit for founding the band or being the leader or anything like that, but sometimes certain things needed to be pointed out to get Kiba off his high horse.

The line finally diminished enough for Naruto to be comfortable. The woman in front of them clicked her phone shut (not an iphone- what was this, the '90s?) to order. Loud people filtered out of the establishment while quiet, older folks and college students took out light reading or laptops and headphones. The soft echo of coffee brewing and fingers tapping keyboards soothed the atmosphere from the aftermath of the morning rush.

The front door swung open and a dark figure entered. He wore a black teeshirt with a forest green varsity soccer jacket, jeans, and Vans. It was because of the attire that Naruto had to look twice to recognize the figure.

What revealed his identity was the soft curve of his nose and the deep, starless night in his eyes.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, startling the barista and the woman ordering. "You liar, I thought you said you were busy?"

Said boy turned to him. His face was dull and passive - he was probably just as hungover as Naruto - and in his hands were freshly cut Lilies.

"I'm just getting lunch."

Naruto seethed. He wasn't sure why Sasuke was avoiding him, or why it bothered him, but he wasn't happy to be brushed aside either.

Kiba gave Sasuke a once over and wrinkled his nose. "What are you wearing?"

Sasuke glared at him. "Who the Hell are you?"

Kiba's eyes challenged Sasuke back. Naruto waved his hands in distraction, cutting the tension.

"Uh, c'mon guys. Pay attention to me!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I can give my attention to whomever I'd like." He turned to Kiba. "As for you, in case you aren't aware, these are jeans, and this is a tee shirt. Now you know."

Kiba scowled back. "Playing smartass, are we? Fine. What I meant to point out, pretty boy, is that you've stooped so low as to dress like us. Where are your khakis?"

"Well you see, today I had the feeling I wouldn't see anyone worth impressing. And it seems that feeling was right."

"I don't know who the fuck you think you-"

Naruto swiftly interjected: "Guys! Are we really gonna fight about pants right in front of the barista?"

They turned to the woman behind the counter, who was looking away sheepishly: almost apologetically. Kiba scratched the back of his head, and Sasuke tsk'd at her.

Naruto sighed, then smiled at the woman before him. "I'll have a mocha frappe please. And sorry about these two."

Kiba frowned. "I'll have a Chai Tea Latte. Two pumps, whole milk."

They paid and threw in a banana loaf just for kicks. Walking away from the counter, Naruto heard Sasuke order plain black tea.

 _Getting lunch my ass._

Naruto's eyes and ears wandered toward Sasuke while Kiba attempted to inform him about the logistics of the songs they'd be performing that night. Didn't he know he'd already played them hundreds of times? That he knew all of the key signatures and even if he didn't he could figure it out in a matter of seconds with his perfect pitch?

What Naruto found was growing increasingly interesting was the boy at the far corner of the shop. Contrary to his callous behavior, his careless dress and the plain look on his face indicated to Naruto that something was off. And he'd just purchased his parents' anniversary gift and wasn't returning home? It was fishy.

(Not that he cared.)

Even more peculiar, Sasuke's palms had speckles of blue on them.

"Could you stop staring at black beauty and actually pay attention?"

Naruto's attention snapped back to his friend. Warmth crept across the flesh of his cheeks.

"I'm not staring! Just... observing."

Kiba cocked a brow. "Sure. Observing, staring, whatever. The point is you're not listening."

"Look, I know all these songs and the time and key signatures, blah blah blah."

Kiba snorted. "Well, if you were listening then you'd have known that I was discussing how Sakura and Hinata are doing a piano-guitar-vocal thing that's gonna take up a good chunk of the concert."

"Seriously?! That's so awesome! What are they playing?"

"As I told you, they wrote it themselves. Got inspired by all the alcohol two nights ago, so they're perfecting it as we speak. I haven't heard it, but Gaara said it's like a fusion of Indie and folk. Hinata is doing backups, too."

"Wow... Sakura's getting really good at guitar, man."

Kiba grinned. "Nowhere near your ability, though."

Naruto scoffed. "Absolutely not."

They chuckled. Naruto had always thought he was your average Joe, not born into any special talents. That all changed when he learned the guitar.

"You know," Kiba leaned in, "Sakura didn't want me to tell you, but she says your voice improved a lot, too."

Naruto beamed. "Really?! I've been working really hard on those exercises she gave me, but I still don't have the range! She can belt really high shit, but also can make everything sound elegant at the same time. I just don't have that yet."

"I don't think it's as expected in male singers." Kiba commented. "Unfortunately."

Naruto smirked. "Then I'll be unprecedented, huh?"

Kiba furrowed his brows. "What?"

"Oh," Naruto retracted. "Ya know, like, the first one?"

Kiba nodded, looking at him quizzically from beneath chocolate lashes.

"You know, it sorta seems like you got a crush on him, man."

Naruto gaped. "What?! On Sasuke?"

He realized his mistake and Kiba whipped around to check if Sasuke - still within earshot of the outburst - had heard. Thankfully, it appeared he was trying to reach someone via cell phone.

Naruto's hands clamped over his mouth.

"Jesus, dude, be careful!" Kiba scolded.

"Heh, yeah... but still, that was totally uncalled for! Where did you even come up with that?"

Kiba looked at him skeptically. "You said you didn't like him earlier this week, hung out with him three times, then ended up getting turnt with him and takin' him to a party. This morning you did a 180 and said he's not a bad guy. Now, you can't stop staring at him."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "My opinion changed because I got to know the guy."

"You're using his words, Naruto."

"It wasn't even a big word!"

"But it wasn't your own! Ya know how Jiraiya used to bitch about having your own voice in his writing is like how every band has its own sound? It's like you took Sasuke's!"

"You're being insane. It was one word, maybe I did pick it up from him but all the crap you're saying about voice is completely unrelated. And, by the way, I'm not staring at him because he's pretty, I'm staring because he's acting weird."

"Yeah, and you totally know him well enough to determine that he's acting out of the ordinary."

A pause.

"You acknowledged he's pretty, Naruto!"

Naruto face palmed. "Unbelievable. I don't have a crush on him, Kiba. I just wanna stay on a friendly basis for tutoring, that's all."

"A little too friendly if you ask me."

"What now?!"

"You gave him your weed!"

"I got it for free!"

"So keep it for your friends!"

"I showed up at his house high!"

"Doesn't mean you have to share!"

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Look," he started, grudgingly. "I get that you don't understand it yet, but I can see that I wasn't totally right about him. Yeah, he's still kinda an asshole, but he's not a bad person."

Kiba crossed his arms but remained silent.

"We've fought and all that, but he also went out of his way to do things I didn't expect from a guy like him. At all."

"Like what?" Kiba asked, doubtful.

"Like walking Jiraiya home with me in the middle of the night."

Kiba sipped his latte, then abruptly stopped. "When did that happen?"

"Two nights ago, when I left the gig. We walked through the lower West side to Jiraiya's regular spot."

"Isn't that one of the sketchy parts of town? And didn't we finish the concert at, like, past midnight?"

Naruto nodded. "That's what I mean by going completely out of his way. It was kinda weird, honestly."

Kiba rubbed his hair. "That _is_ weird. Plus, it's just an odd night to be out at that hour, period."

Naruto grunted, almost finished making his point.

"You know how we always talk about how conventional people criticize us because they don't get us?"

Naruto thought for a moment, experiencing the thought for the first time himself.

"I feel like we're not trying to get him. In the same narrow-minded way."

Kiba chewed on the idea, appeared to turn over its flavor in his head.

"He's just like all the other rich preps," Kiba said definitively."They don't like us and we don't like them."

Naruto fisted his hair. "But those people all look at us rockers the same way, and we're all super different from one another, just with a common interest. It's music. For the preps, it's J-Crew and SAT scores."

"But Naruto, the reason you and I are so different is because our lives don't follow a set path. That's the reason we're different."

"I don't agree with you that everyone is the same, but think about this," Naruto tried. "Sasuke doesn't even like the preps. I'm not gonna stretch it and say he likes us, either, but I do know that he's experienced the same things as most of the kids at our school and still was completely willing to dip into how I lived."

Kiba didn't seem to understand.

"He came to my house, didn't ask questions, tried my drugs, tried my party. He was willing to try and understand us, Kiba. I think we owe it to him, too."

(Since when was he defending Sasuke, though?)

Kiba nodded, sipped his beverage. "Understanding him doesn't mean we have to like him."

Naruto smiled. "Absolutely. I have no idea how he feels about me."

Kiba snorted because boy did that sound weird considering the previous conversation.

"Whatever. If you say he's so open to trying new things, invite him to our concert."

Naruto looked at Kiba, stunned. He wanted to be happy that he won the argument, but acknowledged that Kiba requesting he invite Sasuke to the concert was a challenge, and one he couldn't meet.

Like any rowdy teenager, Naruto refused to step down.

"Fine. I will."

On cue, the two boys swiveled around to eye their valedictorian from across the cafe. He sipped cordially on his plain tea, punching numbers into his phone blankly. He did not bounce his knee. Even so, Naruto observed a slight drop in his brows: a tense, studying look about him that indicated that perhaps there was something he was trying to hide.

"Are you gonna talk to him?"

"Uh, yeah. I can't believe he's still here."

Kiba snorted. "He was dismissing you. He's clearly not busy."

"He said it was his parents' anniversary."

"Then why's he in a Starbucks alone?"

Naruto frowned. He was either lying to him or being an asshole to his parents. Kiba glanced at Naruto, the same thought in mind. He knew Naruto longed for parents who weren't ghosts.

"I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind!" Naruto proclaimed. Just as he rose and adjusted his collar so as to look intimidating, turning his head toward the supposed perpetrator of a mother's and father's sadness, he realized that the table at the other end of the room had been abandoned.

"Naruto, that way."

Naruto glanced at the shutting front door and darted into the crisp afternoon air, spotting a sneaker turning the square into the church yard. Naruto followed the shoe, but without the same vivacious anger. Instead, he curiously pressed his back to the edge of a building, peering around the corner.

 _Wait, he was headed toward the church yard._

Naruto's breath caught in his throat. Sasuke was neither lying about the anniversary nor avoiding his parents. Rather, he had no parents to return to.

 _Graves._

Before a grave worn around the edges but polished in the center, a body sat hunched with flowers in hand and glazed over eyes. His arms were like weeping willows, his eyes like the bottom of the ocean. His palms were blue. Naruto turned away, feeling the moment was too personal to spy on.

"What happened?" Kiba asked upon Naruto's return to the cafe.

"Nothing." He lied, "I just feel kinda bad for him. Seems lonely."

"Did you invite him to the concert?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck tentatively. "I will."

* * *

 _i got a thing tonight at 7._

 _u should come. it's at_

 _213 west street in a sketchy_

 _barn_

* * *

Truthfully, Naruto didn't believe Sasuke would accept the invitation. He simply rose to the bait Kiba laid out because he didn't want to seem submissive. He was in Kiba's house, on the molded brown carpet disconnecting cables after their practice session. He didn't admit to himself that he was anxiously checking his texts systematically, nor did he admit that he prayed Sasuke would accept the invitation. Somehow, Naruto believed that if Sasuke saw his art, he'd understand him a little better, or perhaps respect him.

Though, he'd probably dislike the music, anyway. Music was the sound of the soul dancing, and Naruto doubted anything about Sasuke was not ridged.

...which was precisely why Naruto's stomach leaped out of his throat when Sasuke texted back a mysterious, _Sure._

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes skimming over the word he was sure he'd read correctly, just in case.

"What?" Kiba's head shot up.

"He's coming tonight."

"What?!"

"I know!" Naruto couldn't resist the smug smile that crept across his features.

"I don't want him there!" Kiba scrubbed his hair. "I only said that to challenge you!"

Naruto laughed. Served him right!

"Honestly I wasn't expecting him to say yes either. Whatever. We'll show him how epic we are!"

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Don't try to spin this into a positive occasion. This is tragic."

Naruto laughed again. "You're just being dramatic, Kiba. This is awesome. Even if he doesn't like it-"

"Which he won't."

"-we can still tell people that we dragged the valedictorian into a sketchy barn to listen to rock!"

Kiba smirked. "I guess. I'm gonna text the rest of us about this little addition."

"Go for it."

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks so much for the support. Drop a review if you want the next chapter asap!


	10. Chapter 10

The evening approached like an otter trying to out swim a hurricane: too fast, but not fast enough to avoid the impending doom. Naruto hadn't expressed it to his bandmates, but for some reason, having Sasuke in the audience was giving him some serious performance anxiety: something he'd never had trouble with before.

He ringed his hands and plucked his guitar strings. The group was backstage tuning, which he'd done a few minutes earlier. He was sitting on the edge of the stage trying to get aquainted with the space. He wasn't interested in surprises; he'd had enough of those that week.

Groups of people filtered into the wooden tables and chairs about the wide space. They stopped to admire paintings hanging on the wall- the only splash of color adorning the mostly wooden area- and sat in the center of the audience. Naruto ignored the diverse groups, smiled so they'd feel free to chat amongst themselves until he officially began.

His fingers danced across the frets, muscle memory kicking in from his countless hours of practice. He could do this. He'd done it before. It was no different.

A familiar head of hair wandered into the audience, glancing around blankly. His sable eyes met Naruto's glinting blue ones, and his lips quirked up at the sight of them.

Naruto tried to act equally as dismissive of him as he did to any other observer. The boy stopped before him, and Naruto found his fingers speeding up from either anxiety or the need to impress.

The first thing that popped out of his mouth when Sasuke's inky gaze met his was truthfully the thought he'd been wondering since Sasuke agreed to attend the concert that afternoon:

"Why did you come?"

Naruto's fingers had fully halted. He didn't believe his own words: how brave he could be when he wasn't expecting his own move. It took his courage and resistance to his life preservation instincts to maintain their wavering eye contact as Sasuke replied.

"Do you want me to leave?"

His voice didn't shake. It was steady; genuine: perhaps sensing Naruto's discomfort. Naruto wondered if it was obvious, or if Sasuke was simply excellent at reading him.

"No, I was just wondering." He replied honestly. Sasuke gave a self satisfied smirk.

"I don't know why you invited me. You don't know why I came."

He turned and stalked toward the back corner of the theater. Naruto should have been perplexed. Instead, he grinned his wild grin and acknowledged that for once in Sasuke's weird game of "Who Kept the Most Secrets," they were even.

He didn't need to pluck anymore, as his stomach settled into his abdomen once again.

* * *

Naruto would normally go on stage before the others and make some witty remarks about the audience to loosen them up. He'd joke around, maybe introduce the band in a snarky way, or play an original solo so his bandmates weren't anxious. But they'd been performing for almost four years, and Gaara, Kiba, and Sakura's performance anxiety had long since disappeared. Only Hinata had the nervous twitch of the thumbs, and the excessive wrist stretching habit. Even so, once she got on stage she became a whole new person and could practically bury the audience with her talent. They were all like that.

So, when Naruto stood behind the curtains with his guitar and amp, the guys were already laughing and shoving each other in the joking way they always did. Sakura and Hinata decided against a grunge look today since the band wasn't going for any particularly loud, dark songs that night. Rather, they were playing classic rock, jazz, and singer-songwriter, laid-back works. The venue was musically complex, unserious, and a bit outside the band's comfort zone of Evanescence and dark rock...not that that posed any issue.

"Naruto," Kiba said. "I can't believe this."

Naruto turned to him, pausing his fumbling with his and Gaara's wires, which were tangled. As usual.

"What man?" Naruto grinned, knowing what was coming.

"He's not only here, but...this is horrible."

Sakura capped her water and adjusted her mic in front of the curtain. "What's horrible?"

"It's the tutor. He's talking with my sister's best friend!"

Naruto laughed so hard tears rolled down his cheeks. He tested the amp's volume, then went to setting up his mic. He and Sakura split the vocal part of the show tonight.

"Seriously?! Are they arguing or flirting?"

Gaara peeked out from under the curtain, his bass long since set up.

"Just talking." he informed them. Kiba scoffed, and Sakura raised a cocky brow. Naruto loved it when she did that.

"I told you guys he wasn't bad."

"Since when did he listen to rock? Or...whatever weird variety we're about to do in front of a bunch of wealthy theater patrons?" Kiba asked.

Gaara chuckled at Kiba's confusion, helping him lengthen the symbols the way he liked them. He read Naruto's face openly. Naruto knew his best friend sensed a change in his relationship with Sasuke. Naruto gave him a smile to read, and Gaara nodded knowingly.

Hinata looked at Naruto. Sasuke's presence didn't seem to bother her, either.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Stop judging him. You all say people aren't accepting of people like us, but look at yourselves."

Naruto applauded her internally. She was right that he'd judged Sasuke too harshly initially, and intended to change that. In his defense, they didn't meet under the best circumstances.

Kiba scoffed. "It's not like he wanted to come. I dared Naruto to invite him."

"He did want to come. He's here, right?"

Kiba glared at her. Naruto jumped to her defense.

"He might not like it, Kiba, but he's trying it. Let's give him credit for that."

Gaara wore his typical, blank expression. His best friend always took his side.

"Anyway guys, shall I introduce us?" Sakura offered, since she was the first one to sing. Naruto had already tuned her guitar for her, which was an acoustic plugged into the amp. He handed it to her and he picked up his own electric orange one.

"Nah. You and Hinata are doing an original midway, right?"

Sakura nodded.

Naruto glanced at Gaara, who shared his clever look.

"Let me and Gaara do it. Just trade guitars with me for a bit."

Kiba shook his head at Naruto's usual spontaneity. They never really knew when he was about to do something completely unplanned.

The band retreated to the wings to fuck around a bit more while Naruto and Gaara signaled for the stage crew to open the curtains.

"Dude, I forgot how this went." Gaara remarked, completely unfazed.

Naruto simply doubled over with laughter, just as the curtains folded to reveal him to the audience.

"We'll just make something up, then."

"Hmm. Wouldn't be the first time."

The curtains were completely rolled back as Naruto stepped up to Sakura's pink microphone. Gaara snorted.

"Yeah," Naruto commented at the chuckling audience members, "it's my favorite mic."

Gaara shook his head, trying to hide the laugh.

"I got nothing to hide."

Naruto shrugged, shifted on his feet as he tilted the mic up to account for his and Sakura's height difference. Gaara wiped a tear from his eye, and the crowd's giggle augmented into a full laugh at their freeness.

"Anyway. Hi. I'm Naruto, and this is Gaara." He paused, maintaining strange eye contact with Gaara. A surprised chuckle erupted.

"He doesn't talk much, but he sure looks nice." Naruto commented after a beat. "Can you please say something?"

Gaara shook his head no, and from the corner of Naruto's eye, he saw Sakura face palming at their usual antics.

"What a crowd tonight." Naruto filled in, scanning it for Sasuke. He found him somewhere in the middle, but slightly stage right. He was surprised to see a ghost of a smile playing across his lips. At the sight of it, Naruto craved more.

"Sure are a lot of polos and flannels, eh Gaara?" Gaara nodded sagely. "At least their shoes are tied."

Gaara looked at his feet. His sneakers were completely untied.

"We're the two least prepared members of our band, Rookie Nine. Which is obviously why they've sent us to introduce the whole show to you."

The crowed seemed to lay deeper into their seats, comfortable at the boys' humanness and humor.

"Yeah. There are actually five of us, but I'm failing math, so that explains the name. Are we supposed to play them something, Gaara?"

Gaara shrugged. "I guess we should stop wasting your time. Anyway. Here's a song."

* * *

They ended up opening with a profane song with the lyrics, _That guy's an asshole/that girl's a bitch/fuck that guy, he's just an asshole/what an asshoooooole._

Naruto and Gaara got the song's lyrics from Kiba's seventh grade poetry project. (He'd failed it. Hard.) To mock him, two years later, they wrote the song and had been waiting to surprise him with it for another two.

When Sakura, Hinata, and Kiba emerged from the wings, they shared the same laughter-flushed faces as the rest of the audience, which howled with the ridiculousness.

The first thing Sakura said upon taking her place at the mic was, "Well that was classy."

"I know. It was a perfect way to lower their standards for the night." Naruto replied.

Sakura could work a crowd about as well as Naruto could. With the two of them up there, things went swimmingly. Each member had an intense solo on his/her instrument, and they made sure to tap into a variety of styles. In the end, Sakura and Hinata's original work was so phenomenal they had a standing ovation. Naruto was sure to show off everything he had by the end, which, in retrospect, was a lot.

In the end, the audience was massively impressed, despite the hilarious beginning to the concert. Each band member was expert at their instrument, and together the group combined individual talent with team work and surging creativity.

Sakura thanked them for coming and informed them that they'd be coming out with an album in about a year. When the curtains closed, Naruto hugged Hinata, because she'd seriously knocked the socks off of all of them with her jazz piano solo. He knew she had it in her, and fully believed in all of his band. But, she'd attacked the damn keys like she was mauling meat after living alone on an island for a month.

"That was incredible, guys!"

Sakura smiled in thanks, and Kiba pounced on her. "Dude, seriously. That was a great refresher in the middle of the gig."

Gaara nodded. "I think the finish was almost as great as the start."

Kiba pushed him. "Yeah. Guys, I just wanna point out one thing before we leave."

Sakura worked on the microphones while Hinata wrapped the amp wires. Naruto placed his guitar in its case, and Gaara returned the drum kit with Kiba.

"I wanna say that when we formed, we were awesome. Like, seriously awesome. But we only played hard core rock like Evanescence and Linken Park."

He grunted when he moved the drums into the stage wings, as he found it. Gaara moved to help Hinata with the electric piano, which belonged behind the stage.

"I'm really happy we're doing other styles. I think we've reached a level I didn't even expect."

Naruto smiled, punched Kiba in the arm, and picked up his guitar. "Sakura, you really threw me a curve ball with that pink microphone."

"You threw us a curve ball when you sang that song! YOU'RE the asshole!"

She shoved him lovingly. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder while she wailed in shock and joy.

Hinata spoke quietly. "I like singing backups. I never thought I'd say that."

Naruto set her down, and Sakura took her hands. "You don't realize how beautiful your voice is."

Naruto slung his arm over Hinata's shoulders. She blushed wildly. "Thank you. I want to do it more with you guys."

Gaara smiled. "I think we've really grown up since then. Less critical of ourselves. Less critical of others."

Naruto looked meaningfully at him. He was talking about Sasuke.

"I think we can do even better. This was just a taste of what we should do."

Hinata nodded. "I want to sing more. I want to write more music."

Sakura grinned in approval. "I feel much more confident on the guitar, but I still can't play solos like you can, Naruto. I'm gonna crack down on it for next time."

Kiba nodded. "I'm perfect, so."

They snorted, keeping in mind how they would like to improve on their main instruments, the new styles they'd wish to try, and how they could expand.

Naruto reflected for a moment: his fingers were calloused from the work he'd put into his guitar. He'd memorized every chord, every augmentation. He'd trained every day. He could play anything. His voice had finally lost its preteen gruffness, its subtle cracks. It was strong and full. Perhaps he could expand its range.

"We should talk about this more, guys. But, right now, I'm not in a thinking mood."

"Damn right." Sakura commented. "Let's get some food and chill somewhere."

* * *

From the center of the audience, he could honestly say he wasn't expecting what he'd seen that night. Because his map of what was and what wasn't didn't include a venn diagram of "people failing high school" and "musical geniuses" with Naruto and his weird friends at the overlap.

It was for the better, he thought. He'd always wanted that map singed into oblivion.

* * *

Naruto and Rookie Nine made their way out of the building riding off the performance high. They carried amps and instruments in over-packed tote bags and wires in deep sweater pockets as their voices, shrill with laughter, and throats, warm with breath of stories, reverberated off the walls of the tall, illuminated buildings in the chilly night. In the air was the dry ghost of frost, slowly approaching as autumn wore into winter, and Naruto regretted his lack of gloves. His companions' knuckles were pinked with the cold, but heat radiated off their flushed cheeks and white hot air.

Shutting the door behind him, Naruto jogged to catch up with the group, making his way down the sidewalk toward the band's favorite diner, _Kage's._ It was a momenta of their freshman year, after their first big gig at a local bar, when the group found it on Yelp with a whooping 2.5 stars for food quality but 5 for cheapness.

"Hey assholes, wait up!" Naruto hollered, a laugh in his voice. Sakura turned, pink tongue pointed at him. He returned the favor as Kiba picked her up and spun her around. It felt like Christmas in November, cuddling with his misfit brothers and sisters.

A few feet from the crosswalk sat a figure with a dark petticoat and oxfords. The group waited as the few cars wizzed by, and the dark man stood up, seemed to say something unexpected, and Gaara looked at Naruto for answers.

"What's up?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke turned to him, but did not repeat himself. The atmosphere was dampened.

"He said congratulations." Gaara informed. Naruto nodded, glanced at the obviously perplexed and uneasy looks on his band's face. Kiba wore a look of accusation.

"Thanks, Sasuke." Naruto said, offering an easy smile. Sasuke nodded, studied his hands. Something had changed, and Naruto wondered if he'd intended it.

It was the eyes. They weren't dismissing his stupid ideas and telling him he was wrong. He looked like...

"What're ya gonna do now? Look for some cigarettes?" Naruto joked.

Sasuke scoffed. "Do you really think that's something I do regularly?"

"Do you have to answer my question with another question?"

"Don't I usually?"

Naruto raised a brow. "No. You normally answer as quickly and dismissively as possible."

Sasuke smirked. "Surprised?"

Naruto paused. Kiba looked horrified.

"Not really."

But Sasuke looked surprised.

 _I should get going. I have work to do. I'm done with you losers, I fed my curiosity, I saw what I wanted to see, I don't appreciate your "art." Get out of my way, moron._

...he wanted to learn something from Naruto.

With the shock of a fawn first learning to balance on its own legs, Naruto shut off his pre-conceived notion of what Sasuke should be saying, and realized that people are capable of change. Though, who had changed? Sasuke, or himself?

"Do you maybe wanna come with us?"

Sakura looked at him with adoration and pleased surprise. Gaara wore his usual open face, but Naruto saw wary hesitation.

Sasuke seemed equally unsettled, but didn't decline. He scanned the group, sensing the mistrust.

"I don't socialize."

That wasn't a no. That was feeling out of place, or fear, or the completely unprecedented sound of Sasuke admitting he doesn't know something.

"Just come. We won't bite, right guys?"

Sakura smiled. "Yeah. I'm glad you came, Sasuke."

Gaara shrugged. Hinata nodded. Kiba scoffed.

"Fine."

It only took about a solid five minutes for the discomfort to fade, and soon the group was expressing their excitement once again, though in a slightly more reserved fashion. They remained on guard, but recognized that in this instance, Sasuke was the outsider, not them.

"And then when you did that improv in the middle of the Muse cover everyone started going NUTS! Where did you learn that?"

"Man, I've been fucking around on this damn lump of wood for like nine years!"

"But Hinata made it even better, no offense, when she did that jazz thing in the middle, it was like an awesome contrast to the hard rock-"

"Speaking of which, when you did that bass line-"

Naruto slung his arm over Gaara's shoulders, pausing his dorking out for a minute. Sakura and Kiba continued the relentless babble as he checked on his best man.

"Everything good?" Naruto asked.

Gaara nodded. "I'm just confused."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who trailed slightly behind Hinata. He appeared to be discussing something with her softly, but Naruto applauded his choice to interact with her first. She was the most careful, but also the most persuasive in the group. Naruto latched onto the movement of Sasuke's lips, the way the soft flesh precisely articulated, and how a flash of pearly white sometimes peeked out from beneath the pink. He latched onto a few words, "piano," "classical," "excellent," "brother." Naruto's ears, privy to making out soft words from his softest bandmate, managed to make out a few impressed sentences, a few thank you's and noticed a flattered flush on her ivory cheeks.

"I know you are. But I'm giving him a chance because he gave us one."

"I get that," Gaara motioned to the pair in front of them. "And they seem to be getting along."

Naruto watched Sasuke steadily, his long gate, his immaculate clothing, skin, hair...life. He was freshly cut and clean. He could see why Gaara - rugged and lost since birth - would dislike him, especially since Naruto had encouraged it.

Gaara continued. "But he could be testing us."

"So? Wasn't I testing him when I took him to the party?"

"I'm just saying that he's not like us."

 _So don't trust him_ was left out. Naruto frowned. He wondered why he and all of his band for the longest time seemed to agree that isolating themselves from people unlike them made them safe from judgement. Naruto himself once thought such a thing. But maybe they were judging who was 'different' too readily, because how different could people really be? Was wealth the difference? The amount of troubles a person had? Did it make someone bad to not know pain?

Naruto didn't know. But, he did know that if Sasuke was a rich kid willing to understand how other people lived, he was willing to show. Somehow, though, Naruto wasn't sure that was what was going on.

Perhaps they, in their insecurity and fear, wound up isolating themselves into being the judgemental ones. But, they were sure of who they were now. Maybe it was time to show that to others.

...which was precisely why Naruto ordered the booth in the back-left corner of the diner, where the jute box and the cheap waitress-by-day-hooker-by-night was.

"You gotta get a milkshake here, Sasuke. The Oreo one. It's required."

Sasuke nodded.

Kiba, amazingly, laughed. "Dude, you talked this guy into going to a party, to our rock concert, and now into a milkshake? You should be a politician."

Naruto smiled. "He's right, Sasuke. You're too easy on me!"

"Want me to go back to pushing you around?"

"DEFINITELY not. This is _way_ cooler."

Sakura cut in. "So why _did_ you come tonight?"

The group turned to Sasuke, now in the spotlight.

"Naruto invited me."

Kiba laughed again. "Do you usually do what Naruto tells you?"

"No. But recently... yes."

"Why?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Not sure. But... I'm glad I did."

Naruto smiled genuinely. "Me too."


	11. Chapter 11

In the end, Sasuke did try the Oreo milkshake, right before he cringed and shoved the "heinous, repulsive excuse for a beverage" away from him. Sakura cried with laughter.

The diner was warm and quiet, and the group consumed an inappropriate amount of food together. They ordered shakes and fries, blueberry muffins and apple pies. The band managed to open up comfortably in front of Sasuke, who remained mostly quiet, but not uncomfortably so, given it was his nature. He occasionally commented on the things he heard from the audience, whether they were planned or simply ingenious mistakes. Hinata and Gaara ended up flattered, and Kiba and Sakura took turns badgering him about their volume and style.

As it turned out, Sasuke didn't misunderstand what happened on stage. He observed quietly, asked questions, and soaked up their knowledge easily. Naruto played some classic rock on the jute box, whistled at the waitress when she started dancing. She knew them well by now.

Kiba, Gaara, and Sakura parted with them outside the diner, proclaiming they were gonna persuade a bum into buying them liquor. Naruto laughed heartily, wishing them luck, as he, Sasuke, and Hinata meandered through the late night city streets.

"Your brother really left all that music behind?" Hinata asked. Naruto looked to his friend, then to... well, he supposed his other friend.

Sasuke paused. "Yes."

"That's a shame."

Naruto recalled the piano that sat in Sasuke's living room. It was clean, like Sasuke's guardian maintained it despite it having no purpose. The music lay in bins beside it, untouched for years. Sasuke's face had worn sad nostalgia when Naruto had picked out the sheets without permission.

"Oh, that music I saw when I was snooping in your house?" Naruto joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Hinata replied a soft, "That's what Sasuke said happened. It's sad."

"Yeah. I can't imagine someone getting so good at something and then abandoning it. I could never do that to my guitar."

"Did he ever tell you why he gave it up?"

Sasuke continued walking, as though he didn't plan on answering that question. They were approaching Hinata's house, which was almost as opulent as Sasuke's. However, Hinata's room was more like a small jail than part of the home.

They stopped before the door while Hinata fumbled for her keys.

"No," Sasuke eventually said, "but he did once tell me he was moving on from the past."

He and Hinata shared steady eye contact, and Naruto wondered if Hinata understood something he didn't. She eventually nodded, pat his shoulder, hugged Naruto, and bid them farewell.

Naruto searched Sasuke's face. "I don't think moving on means abandoning things you love."

Sasuke shut his eyes, turned to walk away. "To him, it does."

Watching Sasuke's dark form walk into the night, Naruto saw what Hinata saw: an abandoned once-loved navigating life from a time now past. Alone.

Naruto followed him.

"Where're we going?"

Sasuke shrugged, and they walked straight.

"My... _dad_ is going to be upset if I come home this late."

Naruto nodded. Sometimes he wished Jiraiya cared so much about his whereabouts, but sometimes he saw how inconvenient it would be if he did. He just hoped he wasn't drunk.

"So... you wanna find some booze?"

Sasuke snorted. "I was thinking more of studying in a 24 hour library, then wandering around until morning."

"Ah."

...yeah, it was pretty awkward.

"You know, you don't have to come with me, Naruto."

"I showed you what I do, now I wanna know what you do. Only fair, ya know." Naruto played Sasuke's game.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"C'mon," Naruto shoved him. "Don't be that way."

Sasuke looked at him. "What I do is none of your business, nor is it particularly exciting."

"What, so I've just been a way for you to get away from it?" Naruto challenged.

 _No. Don't slip back into that._

"I don't expect you to understand, Naruto."

Whatever the Hell that meant. So he didn't want to bore Naruto. Alright, whatever.

"I can't understand if you don't show me, man."

Sasuke stopped walking. Considered, maybe.

"I can't. But you and your friends seem to have a knack for figuring things out."

There was hope in his voice. Naruto was confused, but at least they weren't fighting.

"If you have nothing to do, why don't we go to my place? There's not much to do there either, but at least you won't be wandering around at night."

They did go. Naruto was relieved to find that Jiraiya had left a note this time stating he would be back around noon the next day. But, there was still no apology.

Naruto dropped his guitar on the couch and locked the door. He led Sasuke upstairs, and allowed his mind to catch up to his body as he handed him his sweat pants and tee shirt.

He was... sleeping over?

"Here. I dunno if you like Edith Piaf, but... just wear it."

Sasuke nodded. They watched TV, and when their phones illuminated 3:00, they retired to bed.

Naruto's clothes, Naruto's bed, and right next to him. Naruto fought off the nagging leap in his chest and rapid flow of blood to his cheeks.

* * *

It's 4 am, and he's a victim of habit once again. Addiction claws at his eyes, runs through his veins, pumps his heart and makes him breathe. He can't sleep without it.

There's no escape from it. He can admit that he's entrapped in the unrelenting turmoil of possibility. Maybe. False hope stones him down, so every morning he's a child once again.

This is what it's like being nailed to a cross, he thinks. Except he's bleeding out, and his prayer collapsed on his tongue.

His phone screen illuminates and he swipes. His muscle memory kicks in and his trained thumbs work the numbers into the screen as he raises it to his ear.

He rolls over tentatively, facing away from the warm body on his left as it shifts from the covers' movement. An answering machine picks up, and he recalls it word by word.

 _Hello, this is Itachi Uchiha. I'm unavailable at the moment, but if you leave a voicemail, I'll be sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you._

As usual.

The dial tone came, and he swiveled to check on the sleeping form. Deeming it safe, he sighed into his phone and tried to tear the stiff, muting lump from his throat.

"Hey, brother."

I miss you.

I need you.

"You've been... unavailable for a while now."

And I don't know why you've decided to rip yourself out of my life.

"So I was just wondering what's going on."

Do you blame me?

"Call me back when you can."

Because they died yesterday and I'm the only one that seems to remember.

Please just call me back.

He's clung to that hope for three years. He'll cling to it for an hour, because maybe this time it's different. He holds the solid rectangle, his passage to another world, in his palms. He presses his palms together, shuts his eyes, and waits until child in him wanes completely. Then, he puts the phone down.

"Is everything okay?"

The rough voice came from the sleepy figure to his left. His head snaps to attention at the sudden intrusion into his thoughts, and ebony eyes meet azure ones. Sasuke hadn't realized Naruto could be such a light sleeper.

"Yes. Go back to sleep."

Naruto stared at him with that disgustingly kind, open face. It was trustworthy, caring.

It was completely dangerous.

He ignored Naruto, who seemed to always beg him to open up. The tanned skin screamed, _tell me and I'll tell you. We have nothing left to lose._

It grew harder to resist as time wore on.

"Seriously, man." The hoarse voice whispered from behind him. "You seem upset."

He was upset. The present was a nightmare only escapable by being addicted to the past. And even that was eating him alive.

So why not talk? Why not spill his guts to the guy he met only last month? He has an open face, a talent, a knack for making him comfortable. Why not?

He wants to. It's that damn mute in his throat that makes him swallow his words. He drops hints, shows how he feels, because he can't trust himself not to get addicted to a new way out. If it goes, he knows what will happen. Loss will sit on his throat, and it will collapse completely.

"Is your stepdad worried about you? Do you need to go home or something?"

 _Is he worried... as if._

"No. I was just..."

 _Tell him! Please, just tell him!_

 _Stop. You don't want to go there._

The desperate voice usually didn't control him like this. But sometimes, loss can overpower will.

"...leaving a message for my brother."

Naruto watched him. Sasuke sensed it on the side of his head, burning his ear. From his peripheral vision, Sasuke saw nothing cross Naruto's face. His eyes were the same wide, deep, beautiful blue they always were. Open. Hopeful. But not naive.

Not at all. Sasuke wondered if he could confide in them.

"Oh. He didn't pick up?"

Of course not.

"He never does."

 _Stop or he might catch on. He's not dumb, you know._

Naruto didn't answer right away, and searched Sasuke's face. Sasuke was sure to wipe it clean of any evidence. His poker face was a carved stone, resilient and brittle.

Naruto filled the silence. "That's shitty."

 _His words are simple, but not trite. They perfectly encompass everything in the least poetic way possible. He sounds like a moron. And he understands better than the wisest of people. It's shitty. That's it._

Sasuke looked at him, because he couldn't help it. Naruto's boyish face cracked a crescent moon. White teeth glistened in the dark. The tanned skin reflected the stars. Sasuke felt his core warm, and everything around it was soothed.

"...yeah. It's shitty."

Naruto actually chuckled at this. It was a note of ease.

"Never thought I'd hear you say that. Where's the valedictorian?"

"He's off the clock at this hour."

"Well, at least he swings by during the day. He's been late to my office for about...what, sixteen years?"

This boy never ceased to amaze him.

"He has a limited schedule, actually. He tends to only visit companies with the best potential."

Naruto punched his arm good-naturedly. "Jeeze, shots fired!"

It's dangerous.

Sasuke laughs.

"Dude," Naruto starts, "for real. When's the last time he picked up the phone?"

Sasuke knew Naruto could tell how much weight this had. He wasn't sure how he could, but Naruto seemed to have a knack for understanding people. He didn't question it, but still didn't think it wise to answer truthfully.

"It's been...a while."

He did anyway.

"Did you guys fight or something?"

"I don't think so."

"What?"

"We don't interact like that. We hide what we're really saying behind different words."

Naruto caught that too quickly. Sasuke dropped a larger clue than he should have, this time about his nature in general.

"So you act like business associates?" Naruto chimed, then gave that shiteating grin.

"I guess so. It was always like that with my family."

"But if you didn't fight, why do you think he's stopped picking up the phone?"

 _Because I haunt him. Because he blames me. Because he's decided he's moving on._

"I'm not entirely sure."

"I'm sorry, then. When you talk about him, you make him seem..."

 _Like my biggest inspiration. My mentor, my superior, someone I don't think I could live up to. The best brother in the world. The pinnacle of kindness. A genius at everything he'd ever worked at. My only living family. My God. My obsession. My brother._

"...really awesome."

There. He did it again. How does he do that?

"He is. But he doesn't seem to be interested in me right now."

Stone mask went back on before Naruto could reply.

"It's fine. Just force of habit to call him."

"Okay then. Wanna glass of juice?"

Sasuke drew his eyebrows together in his most judgmental expression.

"Who chooses to rot their teeth at this hour?"

Naruto shoved him. His playful stare conveyed to Sasuke that he'd learned his game by now. Sasuke didn't know whether to be relieved or worried.

"I'll get water for you then, you shithead."

He left the room, and softly padded down the steps to the kitchen, dining room fusion room. Sasuke flopped back into his disgustingly orange pillows. Things were growing harder. At the same time, a void felt like it was slowly filling that night. It burned. Things gnawed at him. Worry plagued him. But, it was finally fading after so many years.

Naruto came in with water and cranberry juice. Sasuke teased him. Naruto slapped him. It was the most peaceful things had been in a while.


End file.
